Yellow 60 Lake
by Elarix
Summary: Upstart mercenaries Miyu and Fay pursue a bounty huntress with stolen Aquan artifacts to the backwater town of Badwash. At first glance the bayou may seem like an uneventful region, but beneath the surface lie pirates, cultists, and mythical creatures prowling the swamp under cover of darkness. Takes place 5 BLW.
1. First Sight

**Yellow 60 Lake**

 **Chapter 1: First Sight**

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Red light strobed across the reflective surfaces in Miyu's cockpit. It was the telltale glow of laser fire, originating from her six and relentlessly streaming past her canopy in every direction. The pilot executed a series of maneuvers which pushed her Katinan interceptor to the brink of its capabilities, all the while outrunning the barrage of ruby red death just by the skin of her teeth.

"Blast it Fay, where are you?!"

Miyu stole a quick glance at the area map on her dashboard, but was unable to pinpoint Fay's location. Outside her interceptor's canopy was a deluge of rain and water vapor, and every few seconds purple fingers of lightning lashed out through the massive pillar of clouds, startling both her and her pursuer. The storm was interfering with her ship's sensors; it clouded the radar map and crushed virtually all of their radio communications to static. It was more than an average thunderstorm; with Aquas and its moon being so close together, naturally their magnetic fields would conflict and generate freak storms like this.

The lynx's ship rocked as a laser bolt struck its flank. Even that brief second Miyu allocated to finding Fay was enough for her opponent to take advantage of. Miyu cursed as she dedicated 100% of her focus to just surviving.

The storm had really thrown a wrench in their plan. With Miyu's ship being the least armored of the two interceptors, and inversely the more heavily-armed, it was strategically the most valuable target to attack first. Plus Miyu could never find it within herself to use Fay as bait, nor would the spaniel attract the attention of their adversary if she did. Miyu, after all, was the one with which she had a bone to pick. That was why Miyu had volunteered to distract the bounty-huntress while Fay waited for the opportunity to strike. Now, at the wrong end of all this laser fire, Miyu was starting to wish she had been the one to lie in wait. _After all,_ she told herself, _I am the better pilot. Even Fay would have to admit that. Speaking of which..._

"Fay!" Miyu barked into her comms again, hoping against hope to hear her partner's voice break through the static. "Fay! Fay?" In a fit of desperation, Miyu pulled all the way back on the control stick, causing her interceptor to rise perpendicular to Aquas' moon and towards the sapphire planet itself. "Fay-Fay-Fay-Fay-Fay-Fay-Fay!" The black and gold-trimmed interceptor easily kept on her tail, unloading another barrage of lasers at her. With each new shot that bitch landed on her hull, she picked away at Miyu's weakening shields. If she had been keeping track she would knew Miyu was almost a goner.

The radio crackled, but to Miyu's surprise it was not Fay's voice that greeted her over the comms.

" _I never liked you, lynx,"_ came a young, serpentine voice that dripped venom. _"Somehow you always end up with everything you want... especially at the expense of others."_

Warning lights blinked on Miyu's dashboard, and an urgent klaxon screamed of a successful lock-on.

" _...I think now it's time to change that."_

Before Miyu could thrust her ship into one last desperate dive, crossfire emerged through the clouds, striking her opponent's vessel directly in the hull. While the bounty-huntress had anticipated fire from behind, she hadn't expected an attack to come from below, relative to her. The unprotected hull burst open in a fit of showering sparks, and a black case dropped out into the storm. Miyu went ahead with her dive, speeding up until she drew close to the case, then applying air brakes until she matched its speed. She used her ship's gravitons to generate a tractor beam and draw the case into her own cargo hold—only then did she pull out of her dive and level off parallel to both the planetoids.

" _Sorry I'm l...te, Miyu,"_ Fay's haggard voice finally caressed the pilot's ears, _"but I lost you tw... in the storm. Is th..._ Sveno _okay?"_

Miyu glanced at the display screen, which was covered in analyses of hull damage, shield percentages, and fuel levels. "Yeah, she's doing alright. That last move put me in a lot of danger, and my shields are a fur's width above zero, but I lived."

Fay chuckled, which was rather disturbing when distorted by radio interference. _"_ _Guess I saved ...u in the nick of time, huh?"_

Miyu pulled alongside Fay, glaring at her through the storm since their face-chat was offline. "No, I was gonna shake her off anyway. If you had managed to trail us like we planned I never would've been in this mess."

The lynx could practically feel her companion pouting through the empty space between their ships. Now that they were closer the spaniel's whine came through much clearer. _"You know my ship is slower than yours!"_

After such a close brush with death, Fay's whine was more comforting than annoying, but Miyu acted ticked anyway. "Aww quit complaining, Princess. Now, where did Mamba go? You've kept track of her, right?"

Fay's side of the comms was worryingly silent for a moment. In a meager voice barely audible above the static, she admitted, " _...No."_

"Well where did you last see her?!" Miyu exploded, adrenaline still pumping after their chase.

" _I'm sorry! The last I saw of Cira she was headed into the cloud-pillar... thing."_

"How did the _Evryali_ come out of that attack?" Miyu asked.

The feline could see Fay do a little happy dance in her cockpit. _"Aw I really let her have it! Pow-pow! Right in her sleek gut. Oh, um... in addition to the cargo hold, I also struck the back engines, and it really looked like she was faltering."_

Miyu checked their location, measuring their relationship to both Aquas and its satellite, Bayoon.

"Bayoon, that's the only place she could have gone," Miyu concluded.

" _How do you figure?"_

"At this altitude we're still closer to the moon, and I have no idea what the hell is up with Bayoon's gravity, but combine it with Mamba's shot engine and you can bet that's where she'd end up."

Fay hummed as she thought for a moment. _"Couldn't she just coast a bit and make it to Aquas?"_

"Nah, you really knocked her off course with that last round. Plus where would she land on Aquas? She could ditch the _Evryali_ in the ocean, but once she ejected she'd just get eaten by sharks—which I admit is much cooler than a long, drawn-out hunt for her in the swamps."

" _Maybe we don't have to follow her..."_ Fay hazarded.

"True," Miyu agreed. "I did catch the container you dropped from her ship, so maybe if the artifacts are all there we could leave this water balloon of a planet and collect our pay." She tapped a button on her control panel, which shipped the package from the cargo hold to her cockpit. The onyx-black case emerged in a well below the left of her seat.

" _Wait!"_ Fay exclaimed. "What if it's a trap? What if it _explodes!?_ " her voice squeaked in fear on the last word.

"I don't know!" the lynx mocked back, feigning worry. "What if the both of us spontaneously combust right now? ...It's fine, Fay; I highly doubt Mamba intended for us to score a hit on her cargo bay so we could catch this. I don't think it'll blow up if I open it." Still, she was the least bit cautious while opening the container.

Just as she hoped, no bomb went off, no noxious gas emerged to fill her cockpit, and no needle jabbed her gloved fingers with poison. The top of the case slid off after she undid the clasps, revealing several items wrapped in cushioning cloth. She unwrapped each in turn, checking them off a digital list saved on her wrist comm.

The first was an ornate necklace carved from a scallop shell; most of the shell was unchanged, except the extremities of the fan portion had been carved into five different digits—almost like stubby fingers. The shell was burnished nacre, polished so well that Miyu could almost discern her face in the milky reflection.

" _Well? Well?!"_ Fay prodded. _"How do they look? Are they all there?"_

Miyu whistled. "Just as pretty as in the data file. I could see you wearing one of these."

" _The necklace, right?"_ Fay too had seen the mission file. _"Jewelry's not my thing. I prefer bows."_

"And collars."

Fay did her best to ignore the jab, instead striking back with her own. _"I seem to recall you liking jewelry. Why don't you hang it from that behemoth of an earring?"_

"You know, I think I will wear it." Miyu dropped the seashell beads around her neck, arranging the pendant so that it was centered on her torso. It was rather long, dangling just below her chest, which meant it would be concealed if she ever zipped her flight jacket up. "Just don't tell Toré I wore one of his precious artifacts."

" _I bet you look cute,"_ Fay cooed.

"I never look cute," Miyu corrected her, "I only look slightly less ferocious. Now lemme check if the rest are here."

The feline sorted through the rest of the items, identifying a variety of statuettes carved from coral and an ornamental knife that the mission file called a "kukri." The blade portion was bent and covered with the same mother of pearl material as the pendent. It was shaped in a way that made Miyu want to throw it like a boomerang, but she had no idea what to do when it came back around. Miyu sheathed the knife in its equally-decorated scabbard, pocketing the whole thing in her jacket. On her person was the safest hiding place, but the rest of the statuettes would just weigh her down, so she hid them in a special compartment in her cockpit.

Yet when she had fully checked over the case they were still missing a necklace similar to the one she now wore.

"Uh Fay, we're short a necklace."

" _Aw, I knew it would grow on you. So you wanna keep it and tell_ _Tor_ _é_ _we_ _lost_ _it?"_

"No, there's another one just like it," Miyu explained. "Mamba may have had my same idea and chose to wear it."

" _I thought gold was more of her style, not ivory."_

"Pearl. So it looks like we'll have to track her down after all."

Fay moaned in anguish. _"You mean we'll have to track her down on Bayoon?_ _But i_ _t's a jungle down there! Haven't you watched_ Bear vs Wild _?"_

"I'm not looking forward to it either, but if it means braving a few leech bites for our pay, I'd jump at the chance. We're lucky to have bagged this mission in the first place."

" _Oh alright,"_ Fay conceded.

Miyu pulled up a map of Bayoon, studying the geography beneath their current location. Directly beneath them was a mountain, surrounded by miles and miles of mostly unsettled swampland. Towards the south the swamp hit a bajou area, pouring out into Bayoon's largest lake. On the edge of the lake was a port by the name of Badwash; it seemed like the best place to house their ships while they forayed into the wilderness. It also seemed like the most likely location Mamba would head once she made landfall.

The lynx sent the town's coordinates to Fay's ship, then set her own vessel on autopilot before handing the digital reins over as well.

"Fay, I've sent you our next destination. A lovely little portside-town called Badwash. I need to catch a few winks; I've been up for over 24 hours, and it's taking its toll. Wake me when we get there, okay?"

" _Okay,"_ Fay agreed. _"Do you... mind if I talk?"_

"Yes." Miyu tuned her ship's radio to the only locale station available, but all she got was a mesmerizing form of static. She turned the volume down until it blended in with the other white noise of the _Sveno's_ engine and the constant drops of water hitting her windscreen. Miyu reclined her chair back, letting her cheek rest against the leather-covered seat. The combined effect began to gently lull Miyu to sleep...

" _It's a pity it had to turn out like this."_

Miyu snorted in surprise, as she had nearly drifted off to La La Land. So Fay had no intention of staying silent.

"Huh? Turn out like what?"

" _Well... I never thought we'd be on opposite sides of a mission_ _as_ _Cira_ _._ _I feel sorry for her."_

"Do you still blame me for kicking her off the team?" Miyu mumbled, closing her eyes again. "'Cause that girl was trouble from the moment we first met. No respect for life, no morals—she wanted us to deal with some pretty shady characters."

" _No, I understand that,"_ Fay said. _"_ _You didn't want our team heading in that direction. I know killing those guys was the last straw, but... she did it for me."_

"Fay?"

" _Yes?"_

Miyu was trying her best to follow the conversation, but it was a losing battle.

"Goodnight, Princess."

Fay let out a cute little sigh. " _Yeah, night. ..._ _I think I'll wake you up with a barrel roll. How's that?_ _"_

"Zzzzzzz..."

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" _Sorry Miss Sun  
I have to turn away  
I've been hiding this from you  
But now I have to say_

 _Don't love you  
Don't love you  
_ _Anymore_

 _So sorry Miss Sun  
I know it's not your day  
But you ain't my only one  
So I just can't stay_

' _Cause she's the only jewel I see..."_

The gravelly voice of a bullfrog crooned soulfully in Miyu's ears, greeting her as she slowly woke. It was sung in a country-blues style, backed by folk instrumentals. Though it wasn't her favorite genre, she welcomed the quieter tune that didn't disturb her sleep. In fact, Miyu felt like she could fall right back to sleep, even though the bright rays of morning painted her closed eyelids red.

Yet a tap on the glass canopy immediately disturbed her rest. Miyu opened her eyes and was greeted by a bright blue sky littered with puffy clouds—one of which turned out to be Fay. Miyu had always admired her glossy white fur, and how the girl found so much time to brush and care for it. If it wasn't for the glowing red bow sitting atop her head, the lynx might never have noticed her.

Popping her windshield open, Miyu hopped out onto a wooden dock. The first thing she did was to arch her back and stretch in an exaggerated fashion, causing a warm sensation to melt through her spine. Fay took the hint and massaged her shoulders, working out the knots that had developed from their overnight flight.

"Arghhh... that hits the spot," Miyu growled, thankful for the massage.

"Wake up already, sleepyhead. Open your eyes and take a look!"

Miyu finally cracked her eyelids back open and scanned their surroundings, blinking at the amount of light that assaulted her pupils. Both of their ships were stationed on an old-fashioned dock that extended out from the port town's wharf. Just a few feet below the wooden platform lapped teal waters that made up Bayoon's largest salt lake. While the majority of the docks were occupied by an assortment of boats, an occasional spaceship seemed to pop up, making them feel less out-of-place. The town of Badwash itself was smaller than anything Miyu had seen before—and she had seen some small towns on Katina. The harbor was only a dozen blocks of buildings, all of which were covered in vibrant-colored but peeling paint. The materials were cheap and hastily slapped together, and some of the buildings were just refurbished steamboats. The grassy fields on the east side of town were dominated with preparations for some sort of festival, with food booths, tents, and mobile amusement rides in the midst of deployment.

For a few tranquil moments Miyu was hypnotized by the rippling water. In it she could see the pastel reflection of the multicolored buildings and local residents. As her eyes drew down from the shore and closer to their dock, she caught both the reflections of both Fay and herself. At first she took the opportunity to primp herself, brushing her topaz fur, smoothing out the creases in her white flight jacket that had formed overnight, and repositioning the large earring Fay always made fun of. A crisp lake breeze swept through the fur of her bare midriff, and for once Miyu wished her green top actually reached her stomach. The wind wouldn't be so bad between the buildings, and her jacket would be the first thing to go once they started scouring the hot swamps.

While she preened herself her eyes were drawn over to Fay's reflection, which was currently studying the harbor with a hungry expression. Both Fay and the rusted town seemed to be frozen in time to Miyu. She would never let herself get caught staring at Fay directly, so she settled for the rather greenish-reflection. The white-furred spaniel wore the same flight jacket but a more modest, red shirt—the same hue as her floppy scarlet bow. It was an overall childish look that Miyu couldn't help but adore; one that stabbed through any wall of annoyance or maturity the lynx threw up against it.

"I think it's kinda cute," Fay murmured.

"Eh, it reminds me of Katina," Miyu said, snapping back to the present. "I started the team so I could get away from one-street towns like this."

"Aww, but it just _screams_ adventure!"

Miyu smirked at Fay. "The only adventure these sleepy-town citizens are getting is bingo night at the weekly church bazaar. Now come one, let's figure out who we gotta pay to rent this spot."

The pair of mercenaries set off down the length of the dock towards the wharf, the sound of their footsteps making pleasant thumping noises against the water-soaked wood. At the junction of the pier and wharf they found a small ticket building barely larger than a tollbooth. The door was opened wide to a surprisingly toned pig dressed in neon yellow and orange safety attire. He was seated in a raised chair behind a desk-mounted cash register and was conversing with a basset hound wearing khaki forest ranger gear. They were intensely involved in conversation about some topic, but due to the fishing gear the ranger sported it couldn't be anything more serious than the best bait to use on Bayoon trout.

Still a few yards off from the station Fay pulled Miyu's ear down to her muzzle and whispered, _"Psst, ask them where the nearest restroom is."_

" _No!"_ Miyu hissed back. _"You can't expect me to do that! We'll find one ourselves."_

" _What is it with you and asking for directions?"_

" _Shhh!"_ Miyu shushed Fay before approaching the small building. Neither the park warden nor the dock supervisor looked up as the girls approached, which Miyu was partly thankful for. When they stopped outside the booth, Miyu cleared her throat.

"Um, excuse us, we'd like to rent that platform out there. Uh, dock 12-C?"

The pig seemed happy to see a new face in town. With a warm throaty voice he said, "Ah, so you're the owners of those new spiffy crafts that just flew in? Nice paint jobs you've got there, and nice machines. You girls paying separately?"

Miyu cleared her throat awkwardly, and Fay took it as her cue to step forward. "No, I'm covering both of us." She handed her credit chip to the supervisor, who scanned it into the register. The register chimed and its drawer popped open, revealing an assortment of lures covered in feathers and sparkling doodads before the pig shoved it closed. A cash register for physical coins and bills was a rare sight to see in the Lylat's current modern age.

"Just bring this same card back when you're ready to skedaddle. There's a 20 credit initial payment, and five more for each additional day. I'd uh, ask what two young strangers like you are doing in a removed place like this, but I don't wanna pry."

"We're here on business," Miyu explained, but Fay brushed past her to talk.

"Have you seen a black panther come through here? A girl about our age?"

" _Fay—"_

The dock supervisor scratched his head, but didn't have to think long. "Nope, a girl like you two woulda stuck out like a sore thumb. You seen anyun like that, Jeff?"

The basset hound shook his head, his long brown ears flopping in delayed time. "Can't say that I have. Need help finding her?"

Fay nodded excitedly while Miyu looked away, hiding her embarrassment. "Yeah, we could use someone who knows this place to show us around, maybe guide us through the swamps. Unless she's shown up here already, which I don't think she has."

"You can hunt around town and keep an eye out for 'er," Jeff suggested. "I bet you could hire someone in town to take you out into the bush. Just be sure they don't tie you up and leave you for the 'squitos to pick clean while they steal your stuff, but..." The hound glanced down at Miyu and Fay's holstered blasters. "...You girls look like you can take care of yerselves. Now you can find someone in any of the bars." He narrowed his eyes at them before pointing an accusatory finger. "And _don't_ let me catch you two a drinkin'."

This time it was the pig's turn to chime in. "Hey, and be wary of the locals. Badwash is a bit of a backwards town. We still have a bit of catching up to do with the rest of the Lylat culture-wise, and strangers aren't exactly welcomed with open arms and a jar of pralines. Native Aquans will be suspicious, and the older Cornerians won't trust ya either. Try not to cause trouble or act fishy, ya hear?"

"Yeah, thanks for the advice!" Fay said, waving goodbye as the girls walked away from the booth.

When they were out of earshot, Miyu chided Fay, "I thought you wanted to know where a bathroom is."

Fay looked the other way as they walked along the wharf. "Well... I thought _you_ were gonna ask them that..."

Miyu smiled, knowing she had gotten to her.

Fay glanced over her shoulder for a second. "Well, at least they seem to be nice people. Neither of them gave us the eye when we walked up to them. And that pig is much better than that slob on Corneria. I wouldn't let us end up alone in the same room together! And he didn't even care that I was just 17!"

" _Puh,_ " Miyu spat to the side. "You're damn sure I wouldn't let him anywhere near you. In a way, I'm kinda glad we didn't make the team."

The lynx noticed Fay's ears droop at this last comment.

"Uh, I know how much that meant to you, Fay. Sorry I couldn't exactly wow them with my piloting skills."

"You and I both know the problem was me," Fay pouted. "It's because they knew who my uncle was. And, yeah, I may not be the best pilot. B-but I'm working on that. And I know he offered you the job. I saw him talk to you in private."

"Oh."

The two walked on in silence, avoiding even looking each others way. But eventually, to Miyu's surprise, Fay stopped and hugged her.

"Thanks for not leaving me behind, Miyu," she said, smiling warmly as she rested her head on the lynx's shoulder. Miyu was taken aback at first, but was won over by Fay's embrace and returned the gesture.

As they returned to walking down the wharf, Miyu said, "You know the _real_ reason they wouldn't let us on the team?"

"Nnnno, why?" Fay asked after thinking a moment.

Miyu grinned at the memory of it. "It's because that goddamn rabbit kept yelling at me to do a barrel roll. And I did whenever he told me to, but he was always like, "That's not a barrel roll!"" Miyu stuck out her front teeth to help with the impersonation.

"Oh my god, yes!" Fay agreed, pointing a finger at Miyu. "He did that to me too! So I barrel-rolled, but he said I did it wrong. I think he meant... oh I can't remember what it's called, but there's a similar move. At least the leader didn't take off points for it."

"You know his son was totally into you?" Miyu teased, nudging Fay with her shoulder.

Fay giggled, recalling the bashful tod. "Yeah, he was kinda cute himself. Give him a few years, and our age gap will be less important. Ha, can you imagine if I married my hero's son?" Fay squealed at the thought.

It took about five more minutes before they reached the edge of the wharf, where a flight of stairs led down onto a beach. The last building on the wharf was luckily dedicated to changing rooms, and Miyu and Fay entered the women's section to relieve themselves after a long road trip through space. Fay didn't like using her ship's on-board waste system, and though she'd never admit it, neither did Miyu.

The feline was the first to emerge from the changing rooms. She brushed her hands off on her flight pants and looked up and down the harbor, but Fay was nowhere to be seen. She was probably still inside. Smirking, she thought, _Of course she needs longer. Probably laying a cushion of toilet paper on the seat five feet high, fixing her hair and bow in the mirror... How many things can a girl possibly do in the bathroom, anyway?_

Miyu nearly vaulted out of her boots when something pinched her buttocks. She whirled around, prepared to bludgeon the creep's face in with her fist, but was surprised to find a short Aquan lady instead. The elderly frog had wrinkly, peach-colored skin and eyes that couldn't quite focus on Miyu at the same time. She wore a grass and corn husk skirt as well as a mantle of black and red feathers that lay wrapped across her shoulders. Animal bones, shells, and colored pieces of glass hung anywhere she could fit them—from her ears, her nose, her lip, and between the rolls of belly fat her mantle unfortunately did not cover. Miyu was all for rocking the bare-midriff, but a woman of _her_ age...

"Hey, what's your problem, granny?"

The frog tried her best to fix Miyu with her off-putting gaze.

"You're the _One!_ " she cackled before spitting three times at the ground. On the third spit, Miyu could've sworn she saw a tooth fly out of her mouth, but then she remembered frogs don't have teeth. Silly Miyu.

"What? I'm the "One"? Could you please be more generic?"

The Aquan witch hopped into the air (surprisingly well for someone of her age), grabbed Miyu's face and pulled it close to her own. Her eyes were farther apart than Miyu's, so the feline could only look at one of her golden-colored irises at a time. The hag couldn't even manage that, as both of her eyes gazed past opposite sides of Miyu's head simultaneously.

"Ow, that's my face—"

"You have the blue eyes of the off-worlders," she crowed on in a shaking voice.

"And you have the eyes of a _nut._ "

"Oh how they pierce and peer into the soul. You truly are the one to stare back at evil's gaze and turn it away!"

At this point Miyu's discomfort reached a breaking point, and she threw tolerance to the wind. She struggled to get free, but didn't want to hurt the ancient woman in doing so.

"Please, off-worlder!" the Aquan begged. "Save our people, us wretched slaves! Break us free from the darkness that bends us to its will! You, only you can save us!"

Finally the lynx managed to shake off the woman's slimy hands and beat it the hell out of there. She stopped a few buildings away, catching her breath beneath a cafe table with an umbrella under it. Sitting down, she waited a safe distance from the changing rooms while still allowing herself an unobstructed view of Fay when she came out. She shook her head, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

When the spaniel did come out, she bumped right into the peach-skinned amphibian, causing her plant-fiber skirt to rustle. Apologizing, Fay said, "Excuse me lady—"

But the Aquan immediately grabbed her by the cheeks and pulled her closer like she had done to Miyu.

"You're the _One!_ "

"Oh, _crazy_ lady!"

"Your eyes, they're blue..."

Miyu could easily predict how things were going to pan out. She jogged back over to the two females, prepared to intervene before the witch got too far into her spiel. With some force, Miyu pried her arthritis-ridden hands off of Fay's cheeks.

"Alright, get off her you hag!" With Fay extricated from the Aquan, Miyu began pulling her back towards the cafe. "Get lost, weirdo. This better be the first and only time we see you! Don't bother us again!"

They arrived back at the cafe a few moments later, with Miyu looking over her shoulder to see that the amphibian was truly gone.

"You know," Fay panted, "Sometimes I wish I was back on Corneria."

"Katina seems pretty cozy right now, too," Miyu admitted. "Come on, let's head north into town. See if we can find someone who'll lead us through the swamp."

The two pilots ducked down an alley, suddenly wary of Badwash's inhabitants.

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 _A/N : Ahh, feels good to be back. I haven't published something since late November, and I wrote that piece only using emoji. So my last real update (with actual words) was a Halloween oneshot, and I finished my last serious story back in August. So... it's been awhile. I'll apologize right here for the lack of content, but college has started requiring more work, and planning this story has taken quite a bit of time. In fact, I spent my entire Christmas break plotting it out. It's a really intricate piece with a lot of things that could go wrong if I'm not careful. _Yellow 60 Lake _will be shorter than_ The Hunting Party, _with exactly 15 chapters averaging 5-6k words each, which falls under a total of 100k words. An odd fact is that most of my writing sessions have been from 12:00-2:00 in the morning, because my sleep schedule is so messed up. That'll change when I go back to school..._

 _I'd like to thank Vexed for letting me use Bayoon as a location. His story_ Chaos Effect _is chock-full of similar colorful worlds and characters, and I can't recommend it enough. Also, Mr. Skiperdoo's story_ Perfect Escape _heavily inspired me to try writing a fic with this same structure and intricacy. I hope to one-up him with this venture XD_

 _Thanks for picking up this new story, lemme know your initial thoughts, though I reserve the right not to answer any crazy (but accurate) plot-related theories you may come up with, or any questions about Fay and Miyu's sexualities._

 _Hope to see ya in chapter 2,_

 _-Elarix_


	2. Airboat Drift

**Chapter 2: Airboat Drift**

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Badwash's inner-city wasn't that different from the waterfront. It was only a dozen blocks wide and maybe five blocks deep. Steamship establishments began disappearing the farther they traveled into the town, presumably because no one in their right mind would haul a steamship that far up the bank. Still, the buildings in the best condition stood just behind the waterfront, while the quality of the establishments took a rapid dive the further they traveled inland.

Miyu and Fay reluctantly split up, looking over different sectors of the town for the rogue bounty-huntress. Neither had much luck, as when they met back up at the agreed upon location they returned empty-handed. Black Mamba was most likely still out in the swamps, either on her way to town or lying in wait for an ambush. Regardless, they would have to find a guide to lead them through the swamp as per the ranger's suggestion.

Back on Main Street—a street that ran parallel to the harbor, but was one block removed—the girls stepped into one of the aforementioned steamships, which had been converted into a bar and restaurant. The outside was painted white with azure blue trimming, and tables occupied the porch-like decks. Rows of windows looking out on the street lit the interior of the ship, but the bar portion was kept dim by drawn curtains and low overhead lights. It was towards this area that Miyu and Fay gravitated.

Fay's muzzle lit up with an amazed expression. She grabbed Miyu's arm and pointed at a booth along the interior wall, which was occupied by a burly bear.

" _It's him!"_ Fay whispered in an excited voice. _"Stephen Gills! The star of_ Bear vs Wild! _"_

"You're joking," Miyu said, not bothering to whisper. "What would he be doing in Badwash?"

" _Surviving!"_

"In a restaurant?"

" _Oh I'll show you,"_ Fay _hmm_ phed. She walked over to the bear's table, trying to approach him in a non-intrusive manner.

"Um, excuse me?" she meekly began. "My friend and I were wondering... are you the _real_ Stephen Gills?"

The ursid looked up from his breakfast, raising his eyebrows when he saw Fay. "G'day, girls. So you recognized me, eh? Sorry, it seems that most folks in Badwash don't watch the interplanetary telly."

Fay hopped into the air. "Ha! I knew it was you, but Miyu didn't believe me!"

Miyu rolled her eyes, but stepped over to the table anyway. She spoke through the side of her mouth at Fay while pretending to look elsewhere. _"Well now you've confirmed it, let's go!"_

"You fine girls wouldn't want a seater now, wouldja?" Gills asked hopefully. "It's been a while since I've met any of my fans. People just don't enjoy the great outdoors any more."

"Oh, we don't want to intrude on your—" Miyu started, but was interrupted by Fay.

"Could we?! Thanks!" She sat down on the cushioned bench across from Gills and scooted over to the wall. She grabbed Miyu's arm and pulled her into the booth as well. "I'm Fay MacDomhan, and this is Miyu Tsukikage."

The bear nodded to both of them. "Nice to meet ya Fay, Miyu. You can just call me Stephen, if it ain't no trouble."

From the look in Fay's eyes she was squealing internally, but Miyu just reached for the menu and began flipping through it. They had rushed all over Badwash without a meal, and some of the smells coming from the restaurants and houses were enough to make Gandhi end his hunger strike.

"Aw, thanks Stephen!" Fay said. "So, can I ask what you're doing here? Or is it a _surprise?_ "

"Ha, any fan of mine would know what I was doing on Bayoon again," Stephen said slyly.

Fay clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh my gosh. Not _Bayoon Bushcraft: Season 2_?"

"Spot on," Stephen congratulated her. "The first season received such good ratings that I was able to come back for more. But this time the wild Bayoon terrain isn't our only enemy."

"I think I'll have the couche-couche," Miyu said, trying her best to ignore their conversation.

"W-what do you mean?" Fay asked. "Did you get caught trespassing again?"

"Naw, even more deadly," Stephen said, lowering his voice to a whisper. _"Pirates."_

At this Miyu's ears perked back up.

"Pirates?" Fay echoed.

"You've 'eard about the Battle of Sector Z, I assume? It was all over the news just a couple fortnights ago."

Miyu jumped back into the conversation. "The largest armed conflict between the Cornerian Defense Force and the space pirates. It was a slaughter on both sides. The pirates were cooperating, unifying in large numbers. Corneria had to confront them before they became any more powerful. So the CDF gathered a fleet, and the space pirates gathered a fleet, and the two met at Sector Z. Both sides fired more weapons in that day-long exchange than over the CDF's entire history. They ended up routing the pirates, but took heavy losses themselves. The pirate coalition was ended, but the immediate effect is that criminals scattered all over the System. At least it's meant more work for us mercenaries. Why's it important? Have there been pirates sighted around Badwash?"

"Yes, in large quan'ities," Stephen spoke in a low voice. "We've seen the largest numbers turn tail and retreat to the outer rim, Venom's airspace, Fortuna, and Macbeth. But Bayoon and Aquas are the closest we've seen them come to Corneria. Real easy to capitalize on the fear factor, and another reason to return to Bayoon for season two. There have been many reports of pirates in the area through the bush telegraph, but they all disappear in the swamps. Some sneak in alongside tourists, families, and supply trucks coming for the festival. Badwash is the perfect hideout, too. You've got the Pillar almost directly over'ead—the giant cloud hanging between Bayoon and Aquas. No CDF cruiser wants to shack-up in that. Though Bayoon houses the majority of the Aquas system's population, Badwash Bayou is mighty sparse. I'd say there are 2,000 inhabitants max, with many scattered beyond the black stump."

"Hasn't Corneria dispatched a fleet to investigate? Drive them out?" Miyu asked.

Stephen shook his head. "Bayoon's local government thinks they can handle it. They've sent forest rangers to the area for confirmation. If they need backup, they'll call in the CDF."

"We're chasing a criminal of our own," Miyu explained. "A bounty-hunter with stolen goods. Fay shot her down over Badwash, so we figure she must have landed in the swamp. We were planning to grab a guide and brave the swamp alone, but if she has allies in there, we'd be outnumbered."

"Oh!" Fay exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "You think Cira was originally headed to Badwash in the first place? Maybe she stole the artifacts for one of the pirate commanders."

"It can't possibly be a coincidence that Mamba ran to where the other pirates were grouping up," Miyu agreed.

"Say, I've got some good oil!" Stephen snapped his furry digits. "Why don't you two come along with me? We can hunt through the marshes and swamps together, looking for the bushrangers and this 'Mamba' person. Whaddya say?"

Miyu zoned out while staring at a spot of hot sauce on the table. She was picturing a hellhole of a swamp through which the three of them waded on foot, drinking algae and mud-filled water and eating small rocks and live insect larvae for sustenance. If they were lucky they'd find some feces of larger animals to turn into juice. In the daylight they'd roast in the sunlight and suffocate in marsh gases, while at night they'd freeze to death in waist-deep water. Graphic images of death by poisonous snakes and alligators filled her mind. They'd be eaten alive by bugs, getting completely sapped of blood by misquotes bigger than Stephen Gills himself.

"Oh my gosh, could we?" Fay squealed, clasping her hands.

"Sure! Reviewers have complained I don't have enough sheilas on screen. This'll boost ratings bloody well."

"You mean I'll guest-star on the show?" Fay's eyes went wide and glassy.

"You're already in the show, missy." Stephen pointed out a cameraman sitting by the window opposite them. "Say hello to Si, girls."

"Hello, Si!" Fay waved emphatically. Miyu nodded slightly, suddenly self-conscious that she was being filmed. The green kakapo behind the camera waved a couple of his feathers, but otherwise kept his face glued to the view-finder.

"Simon's a great cameraman. Goes everywhere I go, eats the tuckers I eat, and catches whatever diseases I catch. And he stays quiet the whole time, the thoughtful bastard. We don't talk much..."

"So we could pay you to lead us through the swamp?" Miyu asked.

"Ha!" Stephen laughed. "We'll pay _you_ just for being on the show."

Miyu liked the sound of that. "And what protection do you have against pirates?"

"Besides my camera crew we'll travel with local forest rangers. They're just as eager to meet those bushwackers as we are. They're well armed, and from the looks of it, you girls are too?" When Miyu and Fay nodded, he continued, "Good. I hope you can take care of yourself in a pinch. I'll handle the bushcraft part. We'll pile in my truck and head down to the west-side docks that border Mulaboo Marsh. We'll meet up with my crew and the rangers, and set out into the marshes. But first, my brekkies!" And he returned to scraping his plate free of food.

Miyu took Fay's order for breakfast and got up from the bar. She left the order with the barman. While their food was cooking she brought back a mug of beer, setting it before Stephen. "Here you go Mr. Gills. Thanks for all your help!"

Stephen smiled at first, but his face darkened when he saw the contents of the mug. He eyed the amber liquid with a suspicious look. Grabbing the handle, he lifted the mug to his muzzle and sniffed. Finally, he closed his eyes and gulped the beer down.

After wiping his mouth he said, "Sorry. I had to be sure it wasn't piss."

The lynx grinned mischievously.

"I know."

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

After the girls finished their meal (a simple but tasty dish of fried cornmeal topped with milk and syrup), they piled into Stephen's off-road jeep. The wrangler was well-worn and fit for safaris and treks through muddied roads, with modified headlights and an added winch for towing other vehicles out of ditches. Stephen and Fay sat in the two front seats while Miyu took the middle of the backseat, which allowed her to stretch her legs out. Simon the cameraman sat in the open trunk, still filming them quietly.

They drove through the streets of Badwash Harbor, and it wasn't long before they left the town behind. Outside the city limits the paved streets disappeared, dropping them onto bumpy gravel roads. Most of the buildings disappeared as well, allowing Miyu and Fay to enjoy the thick bushes and scraggly trees lining the road.

Eventually Miyu noticed a red chili pepper ornament hanging from Stephen's rear-view mirror. She had never seen one like it before, but at least it was better than the usual pink, fuzzy dice.

"Why do you have a chili pepper hanging from your mirror?" she asked. "Does it mean something?"

Stephen chuckled. "It's not a pepper, but that's a common mistake. It's just a red bit o' coral carved that way. S'posed to look like a horn. Old Aquan superstition."

Miyu caught herself framed in the mirror while examining the polished coral dangling beneath it. "What's it supposed to do? Is it just a good luck sorta thing?"

"There's more to it than that," Stephen explained. "It's used to ward off evil spirits and bring the bearer protection. I'd tell ya what it's meant to represent, but being in the company of—"

The ursid noticed both Fay and Miyu smiling at him funny. "You right?"

"It's... hard to imagine a no-nonsense survivalist like you being superstitious," Miyu said, trying to hold back laughter.

"No, of course it isn't! I see a lot of things on my adventures. I visit a variety of cultures, and some ideas are common between 'em all. The natives don't only teach _physical_ survival skills, you know."

Even Fay was laughing a little, though she wanted to think the best of her hero.

"The residents of Badwash, for example," he continued, "are _very_ superstitious. They don't trust outsiders, they have all sorts of knick-knacks and doodads, and even old religious festivals they still observe. Did you see the fairgrounds on your way in? They're setting up for the Munzagoringu festival. Biggest event of the year. Old pagan Aquans still practice religious rites handed down to them for thousands of years, but the rest just enjoy the amusement rides, special treats, and carnie games. They prepare a lot of yellow food for some reason, but to me it just looks like someone pissed all over it."

"Hey, that sounds like fun!" Fay said. "When does it start?"

"Any tic o' the clock. I'd love to stay, but we gotta catch some pirates right now."

"Aww..."

Stephen got a mischievous look on his face. "They also believe in some kind of swamp monster that lives out in the wilderness. Accounts of him vary, but there's definitely _something_ out there that's starting the rumors. Maybe if we're lucky we'll run into him! And on camera, too! Right Si?"

The parrot gave Stephen a thumbs-up with his feathers.

It wasn't much longer before they crested a hill and drove down into a second dock. This one was a sizable distance removed from Badwash Harbor, and bordered a marshy delta that stretched on for miles. A simple gravel parking lot ran alongside the wooden dock, which was filled with similar off-road vehicles, boats attached to trucks, or run-down, ancient pieces of machinery that had once been vehicles at some point in time. Miyu noted there wasn't a hover-car among them. Farther up the dock a group of elderly Aquans was preparing a fishing expedition, while closer to them was a gathering of rangers dressed in khaki uniforms and wide-brimmed hats. The uniform was the same as Jeff's from earlier, though he wasn't among the crowd.

Stephen parked the jeep next to his film crew. He told the girls to wait in the car while he talked something over with his director, who was bald, wore sunglasses and a red, loud floral shirt. The director glanced over at Miyu and Fay as Stephen explained his idea to feature them. He scratched his chin a few times, then nodded and said something to the bear. They parted ways, and Stephen returned to the jeep.

"Good news, I got ya the job!" the ursid notified them.

"Yay! It's like a side-quest!" Fay said.

"No Fay," Miyu corrected her, "it's just someone else paying us to do the same job. _And_ helping on top of that."

Fay covered her mouth with her paw. "Oh, I just realized! This will be my TV debut! Do I look alright?"

"You always look cute, Fay," Miyu assured her. "Besides, it wouldn't make sense if you looked absolutely perfect while trekking through the wilderness all day." But her words fell on deaf ears as Fay opened the overhead mirror, craning to see herself in the reflection. She positioned her bow and licked her fur into place—a habit she picked up from her feline companion. She didn't listen to Miyu's warnings about hairballs.

Their group of four left the jeep and met the forest rangers on the dock. They had a small fleet of watercraft moored to the dock, including larger speedboats, motorboats, levibikes, and airboats—shallow-bottomed craft propelled by a single, large fan on the back.

Stephen greeted the leader of the rangers, a brown-skinned walrus with a smoke gray uniform and campaign hat. He shook the walrus' webbed hand with his paw. "Officer Merkel! Good to meet ya. I've got two more in my company. They're fellow survivalists."

The large walrus stared down his curved tusks at the girls. His whiskers twitched. "It's Officer _Mackerel,_ " he firmly corrected, even though his badge clearly read 'Merkel'. "Mr. Gills, I respect your stasis as one of the greatest adventurers the Lylat has ever witnessed, so I will excerpt your assessment of these young ladies. But if either of them are hurt, their blood will be on your hands."

"We can take care of ourselves, officer," Miyu said, confidently patting the blaster strapped to her thigh.

The walrus raised his eyebrows in response. "Do you have a license for that, ma'am?"

Miyu's cocksure smirk disappeared. She glanced away and mumbled, "Yeah, it's just... in my ship..."

"Mm _hmm_." Officer Mackerel placed his hands on his hips and turned to address the rangers under his command. "Fellow wardens, you were originarilly called to Badwash to investigate increasing reports of pirate activity. Intelligence believes there are criminal sanctumaries in the marsh and swamp."

"Whose intelligence, exactly?" a small, goldfinch ranger asked.

Mackerel twitched his whiskered nose again. " _My_ intelligence."

The goldfinch sank back into the ranks.

The walrus continued. "Today we have formed an expenditure to scour the wilderness for such enclaves. We will scan Mulaboo Marsh with a fine-toothed comb, but leave the swamp for another day. Report any findings to me; Alpha unit. And to Gills—Bravo unit—since he has to film his stupid TV series. Do not make an attempt to engage the enemy. I repeat; do _not_ seek open engagement with the pirates. This is merely a renaissance mission. If you do get caught and are forced into combat, send up a flare and broadcast an SOS. Keep your eyes peeled... and absolutely _no_ fishing!"

A pair of rangers slunk dejectedly away from the group, depositing their fishing gear in the back of their trunk.

"Well, Gills?" Mackerel asked. "Any special orders you'd like to give?"

"Why, yes." Addressing the rangers with a louder voice, he said, "Please try not to look directly at the cameras."

Inevitably every ranger's eyes spotted and focused on the two cameras, which elicited a facepalm from Miyu.

"Enough standing around here," the walrus said. "Rangers, to your ships."

At his behest, the ranks of park wardens divided into their predetermined groups and took to their assigned watercraft. Miyu and Fay followed Stephen's crew over to two identical airboats moored to the dock. They boarded the nicer-looking one with Stephen and his cameraman Si, while the director, script supervisor, foley artist, and secondary cameraman boarded the other. They would film Stephen from afar.

Miyu made the small jump from the dock onto their boat. The vessel bounced in the water a bit, but not much. The airboat was rectangular in shape, but shallow so as not to scrap against the bottom of the marsh. The prow curved upwards so the craft could easily skim over water and reeds alike. The large fan propeller took up the back of the boat, with a large cage protecting anyone who might touch the spinning blades. Two seats flanked either side of the fan's engine, with the one on the left wielding the controls. A small bench sat in the middle of the boat, while the forward half was mostly empty.

"Careful now," Stephen warned. "Hold onta something, or you'll tumble arse over tit into the marsh. For one thing, looks like you didn't bring ya bathers. For another, there be mighty deadly creatures in this marsh. All kinds of wonderful snakes, gators, and snapping turtles. I've eaten most of them in desperate times, and the local 'Yoons also have a penchant for 'em. They're prolly eager to get back at us and eatcha."

Simon positioned himself behind the right seat, getting a good angle with his camera. Fay sat on the bench, holding a pair of binoculars to search for signs of pirates.

Stephen offered the control seat to Miyu. "Wanna take her for a spin?"

Miyu eagerly sat in the left seat, getting a feel for the controls. Honestly there weren't that many gadgets there, except for a pedal beneath her foot, an ignition switch, and a rudder stick.

"I, um, assume there are no brakes?" Miyu asked.

"Heh heh, you got that right. You have to give 'er enough gas to keep her skimming over the surface. Otherwise she won't budge a fly's arse hair."

Stephen placed the key in the ignition switch and turned it, which activated the massive propeller. At first the noise wasn't loud enough to drown out the passengers.

The bear sat down in the seat beside hers, then pointed down at the floor by Miyu's feet. "That pedal's the accelerator." Next he gestured at the large, metal stick and shouted, "Press forward to go left, back to go right, and hold it in the middle to go straight. Give it a burl."

Rather than gently ease pressure onto the accelerator, Miyu jammed her foot all the way down. The hum from the fan became deafening, and the spinning blades pushed the ship forward and away from the dock. In no time they were off and skimming across the marsh, followed from a distance by the second camera unit.

In the open water closer to the dock, Miyu let the airboat fly to its fullest capabilities. There was something different about piloting an open-air craft than flying in her fighter. There was no canopy to block the wind from gusting through her fur, and there was no g-diffuser to trick her body into feeling balanced. Though she could never reach speeds even approaching that of the _Sveno,_ something about the experience was so much more exhilarating, more real, more—well, down to earth.

Mulaboo Marsh was a flat, open plain that stretched on for miles. To the south sandy banks interrupted the water to create estuaries which emptied into the lake. In the north was a long wall of trees that went on as long as the eye could follow. The treeline was the sign of the swamp, which represented the extent of their scouting mission for the day. The marsh itself was anywhere from a couple meters deep to only a few inches, and in some places muddy ridges and rock formations rose out of the water. Rushes grew in clumps from the water, while fields of reeds sometimes rose higher than the boat itself.

At the start of their outing the marsh was mostly open, the water only covered in water lilies or carpets of duckweed. The tracts of reeds became more frequent the farther they traveled from the dock. Eventually a wall of the plants forced them down a small waterway in the undergrowth. It twisted and turned through the reeds, and Miyu struggled to follow the path. At the first turn, she eased off the accelerator like she would on a car, but the boat swiftly slowed down and refused to turn, running up against the reeds.

Stephen leaned over and shouted in Miyu's ear to be heard over the fan. "You have to keep giving it gas around turns! Without any air, the rudder has no effect!"

Miyu nodded, easing onto the accelerator once again. The craft left the reeds and slid back onto the waterway. Following the ursid's instructions, Miyu had a better time controlling the craft. But now she had to work with the airboat's simple but backwards steering method. The lynx had to translate forward and backward into left and right, coinciding each motion so as not to scrape against the soft, outside walls of the turns. That coupled with the airboat's lack of brakes made things extremely difficult. Gradual turns were easy, but sharper turns forced Miyu to drift through them. Often times the back end of the boat scraped up against the reeds, but Miyu picked up the feel and control of vehicles quicker than most, and in no time at all she was taking the turns like an expert.

"Holey dooley, Miyu!" Stephen shouted. "You handle this better than I do! I admit I'm used to traveling on foot most of the time."

Fay lifted her legs up onto the bench, lying lengthwise across it with her arms folded behind her head. She looked up at Miyu and they shared a smile. The lynx loved how the wind whipped Fay's ears, bow, and hair into a frenzy. For some reason she pictured Fay sticking her head out of a window with her tongue flapping in the breeze.

The spaniel mouthed to Miyu, _"Whoa,_ _déjà vu!"_

Eventually they emerged from the other side of the tall field of reeds, and met more open water. Stephen gestured for her to ease off of the accelerator, and Miyu complied. The boat slowed and stopped skimming over the surface, now only coasting along. The fan was much quieter at this point, and the occupants could easily talk to each other without raising there voices.

"Now's the time where we have to be stealthy," the bear explained. "If we travel any faster than this, our fan will make too much noise, and the pirates'll hear us. Let's take it slow. Fay, you and I will keep an eye out for 'em. Si? Grab a different angle."

Si made an 'okay' sign with his feathers. He dislodged himself from behind Stephen's seat and lay down in the prow of the vessel—now that it wasn't moving dangerously fast. He managed to find a nice low-angle shot of the three other passengers.

The sky was strangely growing dark as if the sun were setting, which was curious because they had only eaten 'brekkie' a few hours ago.

"Not that I want it now," Fay began, "but did you bring a lunch? I think we need one if we're going to be out here all day."

"Oh dammit, I forgot," Stephen cursed. "You girls and Si have sandwiches. You'll eat those during the 'clipse. I'll have to steal some gator eggs or something."

"I'm sorry, when? What does "the 'clipse" mean?" Miyu asked.

"Oh, right, you lot have never been here before," Stephen said. "It's the eclipse; when Bayoon passes between Aquas and the Lylat. It was never a problem while filming the first season of _Bayoon Bushcraft_. We did that on the far side of the planet, which has a normal day/night cycle. But Badwash is located on the near side. Bayoon rotates in-sync with its orbit around Aquas, meaning Badwash always faces the planet. Whenever you look at the sky, you always see the same side staring back at you. Try it; have a squizz up there."

Both Miyu and Fay tilted their heads back, staring up at the sky. As always, the sea-green surface of Aquas stared back down at them, taking up a third of the sky. Galaxies of white clouds swirled over the ocean surface, and they could just barely see a few archipelagos of green islands. But as the sun set behind Bayoon it cast a large shadow onto Aquas. North from their position rose a mountain, and above that mountain floated the Pillar, the massive column of clouds that stretched through the sky to Aquas' surface. That was where they had fought and lost Cira.

"Bayoon orbits Aquas in a twenty hour period. Badwash has two daylight phases and two night phases in that same span. It's not because we're rotating—it's because the sun disappears behind both the moon and Aquas itself. What 'Yoons consider midnight is when the sun is on the complete opposite side of Aquas from us. Then it rises from behind Aquas at about three o'clock. Then you get the first portion of daylight, from three to seven in the morning, when it begins to set behind Bayoon this time. By ten it's midday, but the sun is behind Bayoon. The 'Yoons on the far side have all the luck, but here the locals eat lunch or have a siesta since it gets dark all of the sudden. It's not pitch-black—the light from Lylat bounces off Aquas' surface and makes a sorta twilight here. Then the sun rises again from behind Bayoon at thirteen o'clock, and abruptly sets behind Aquas at seventeen o'clock. _That's_ when it gets pitch-black. You sheilas follow?"

Fay shook her head while Miyu said, "Kind of?"

Stephen scratched his chin. "Alright, look at it this way. Pretend your face is Bayoon. Hold your right fist in front of you. That's Aquas. Now, hold your left fist behind your right fist. That's the sun. Your face and your right fist don't move, because Bayoon and Aquas are both in synchronous rotation. At midnight, the sun is on the opposite side of Aquas. Now bring your left fist around until you can see it, and that's morning. It sets behind your head, which is the 'clipse. Then it rises on the other side, and that's the afternoon."

Miyu and Fay continued staring at their paws and orbiting their hands around their heads.

"Congratulations. You both look like wankers."

Miyu stopped to glare at the ursid while Fay exclaimed, "Hey, I think got it!"

Stephen patted her on the shoulder. "Don't hurt yourself kid."

At that moment the short-wave radio crackled, and one of the rangers said, _"This is Hotel unit. We've sighted a pirate enclave on the west side of Creeper's Rock. They're holed up in a stolen houseboat. Over."_

The radio crackled again as Miyu, Fay, and Stephen listened intently. _"This is Alpha unit,"_ the walrus' voice came through, _"we read you. All vessels close to the area_ _converse_ _near Creeper's Rock. Use stealth. Cut engines a kilometer away. Do you copy that, Bravo unit?"_

Stephen pressed the talk button. "Gotcha, Mackerel. Bravo and Charlie units will be there any tic o' the clock." Then he gestured for Miyu to give up the driver's seat. "Up, missy. I know the way to Creeper's Rock. You just watch out for pirate patrols with Fay."

Miyu reluctantly traded seats with the bear before he started up the engine and they were off towards Creeper's Rock.

* * *

)◯(

* * *

Following Officer Mackerel's orders they cut the airboat's engines and coasted the rest of the way to the encampment. They met up with Alpha unit and several other boats, which moored behind the natural cover of a wall of dried nettles. Simon hopped off the ship with the camera, lying belly first on the peat moss covered bank. Miyu joined Fay at the front of the boat, and the spaniel handed her the binoculars.

Peering through the lenses, Miyu the large, floating craft just on the edge of the swamp—between the forest and the marsh. It was two stories high, with the house portion on the second floor. It opened out onto a screened-in porch, then lead down to the bottom deck via ladder. Several speedboats and levibikes were docked to the lower floor, but they couldn't see any pirates outside. A warm glow came from the window, flickering in the dim twilight of the eclipse. A lantern hung from underneath the porch, already attracting confused moths. In the lantern light, Miyu could see drying on the lower deck...

The lynx let the binoculars sink from her face. Her heart pounded in her stomach as even the memory of the sight quickly repulsed her.

"Come on, let me look!" Fay said. She grabbed the binoculars, but Miyu jerked them away before she could use them.

"No, Fay! Don't look! You don't want to!"

"Why not?"

Miyu was feeling sick. "I'm not letting you see!"

Stephen gritted his teeth as he noticed as well. "Those bloody sons of bitches. Stealing the houseboat was one thing, but they had no business..."

Miyu had to do something physical to get her mind off the horrific sight. She stamped over to the bear, gesturing wildly. "Well? Aren't we going after them?" She whipped out her blaster, removing the safety with unnecessary force. "We can't let them get away with that!"

"Whoa there," Stephen said, laying a paw on Miyu's heaving shoulders. "This was just a scouting mission. We've found the pirates, we have proof, so now we call in the cavalry. There's nothing more we can do."

"But we have a capable force right here!" Miyu argued. "We can take them in a fight!"

"No, we can't," Stephen said firmly. "We have a camera crew and a squad of parkies that haven't shot anything more than a wild horse that broke its leg in the bog! You and Fay may be mercenaries, but you're still just a couple o' ankle-biters! We've done our job, it's time we bailed."

Stephen fished around in their pack before handing Miyu a cool water bottle. "Here, this'll calm your stomach. Have a sip."

Realizing arguing was futile, Miyu accepted the bottle and eagerly drank from it. She could feel the cool liquid passing down her throat and settling in her stomach. But the images she had just seen came back to haunt her; they were frog skins—four of them—stretched out over drying racks on the lower deck. She focused on Fay to keep calm, who was still trying to catch a glimpse of the houseboat through the bushes.

The radio crackled, startling all of them. _"_ _This is Delta unit. We ran into a patrol south of your location!"_ The broadcast was nearly drowned out by their ship's engines. A gunshot rang out, which Miyu didn't need the radio to hear. _"We're trying to run, but they're in pursuit!"_

"Dammit!" Officer Mackerel cursed in the boat beside theirs, "the pirates are sending in reinbursements!"

Miyu looked through the binoculars again, noticing a rag-tag group of Lylatians climbing down the ladder and jumping into their craft.

"They'll see us!" Stephen exclaimed.

"All units, this is Officer Mackerel," the walrus said into his radio. "Pull back to Badwash Harbor. Do not engage!"

Once Si climbed aboard the airboat Stephen turned on the engine and wheeled the ship around. They blasted off into the marshes, but could hear the motors, cries, and gunshots of the pirates close on their heels. It was dark now, but bright search lights illuminated their backs, casting their frightened shadows onto the reeds ahead.

* * *

 _A/N : I had a hard time figuring out the guide's character until Nail Strafer suggested I make him Australian. I knew I wanted a Bear Grylls parody, but the dialogue is more fun when he's talking like Steve Irwin, or TF2's Sniper._

 _Unfortunately I go back to school Tuesday, so there's no telling when the next update will be. I have a lighter course-load than last semester, but all of the classes are harder this time around. I'd also like to post chapter 4 as close as possible to chapter 3, so it may be even longer before I post either of them._


	3. Clipse

**Chapter 3: 'Clipse**

* * *

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* * *

With a large splash, the airboat dipped into the water and sprang back up again. Stephen Gills had just launched the boat off a natural ramp, which was part of his no-holds-barred evasion strategy. The rangers' boats had scattered and lost track of each other several minutes ago, but some of the pirates had chosen to pursue them over the others. Miyu and Fay hung onto their seats for dear life while Simon expertly balanced and continued shooting... with his camera.

The powerful searchlights lit up their backsides, indicating the pirates were once again closing on their location. Blood red laser fire traveled over their heads, accompanied by conventional bullets and the crack of gunfire, which the pirates seemed to be obsessed with. Conventional weapons wouldn't overheat, leave an energy trace, or cauterize the wounds of their targets—pirates preferred their enemies dying painful deaths.

"They're gaining on us!" Miyu shouted over the roaring fan and gunfire. Gills nodded, both fear and determination in his eyes. As bullets pinged off the back end of the ship he jerked the boat to the left and into a sea of tall reeds, effectively plunging their pursuers' visuals to zero. The searchlights couldn't penetrate between the swaying reed stalks, and the sound of the pirates' crafts became more distant, soon leaving only the noise of their own propeller.

"Looks like we lost them!" Fay cheered as she craned her neck to see behind the airboat.

Just as it looked like they were in the clear a levibike shot up above the plant cover. With its lift maxed out, the bike skimmed the tops of the reeds, shining a spotlight onto their location. The pirate aboard the bike was a disheveled rat that probably hadn't bathed since the day he was born. He was small but fierce-looking, with a biker's bandanna around his forehead, missing teeth in his grin, and a conventional rifle strapped to his back. The rat shouted something back back over his shoulder, but his words were lost amid all the excess noise. Moments later another levibike broke through the reeds, and the speedboat found their location again, aided by the first pirate's light. By the time they broke out of the reed bed the speedboat was on their tail and firing.

"Stephen, watch out!" Miyu pointed to a low over-hanging tree trunk that had fallen over the marsh. Moss and vines hung from the dead trunk, and the airboat would clip the underside for sure... but so would the pirates' speedboat, which made it rather appealing.

Stephen's eyes darted over the terrain, and he quickly formulated a plan. "Everyone!" he yelled, "to the back of the boat!"

Fay scrambled over her bench and huddled between Miyu and Stephen's seats while Si hung onto the side of the propeller cage. Stephen drove the airboat over another dry bank, which gave them several feet of air. During that airtime, their combined weight caused the back end of the boat to sink downward, while the prow became nearly level with the top of the fan cage. Upon hitting the water, the rear end sank beneath the surface. For a frightening moment the fan blades slapped water, and the cage scrapped up against the bottom of the trunk, but the boat dipped just enough for them to clear the tallest opening beneath the fallen tree.

Miyu and Fay eagerly looked back to see the pirate boat and levibikes swerve to a stop at the last second, now having to go all the way around.

"All right!" Miyu hollered, punching Stephen's beefy arm with her fist. Their guide smiled, but in an instant returned to seeing to their survival. The speedboat and bikes would doubtlessly catch up to them once again. Their only hope was for the pirates to give up before they reached the west-side docks, but they still had a ways to go.

Anticipating their enemies' approach, the bear drove the airboat onto a large island. They lost sight of the speedboat, but once again the pirates on the levibikes pushed their repulsors to the limit and spotted them with floodlights.

After emerging from the other side of the island on a long, thin bank, they collectively despaired as they noticed the speedboat was neck-and-neck with them. The craft had boosted around the island and was now running parallel to the sand bar. A gunner in the co-pilots chair—a bare-chested badger—mounted a machine gun on the hood, threaded the belt, and opened fire across the water. Fay cried out as bullets pinged on the side of the boat, and everyone hunkered down. Miyu drew her blaster and fired past Stephen, only hitting the hood of the speedboat but momentarily stopping the crossfire.

Eventually the sandbank dropped off before Stephen took them over a large ridge, and this time only the levibikes could follow. The airboat slid down the opposite side, right into a circular cove surrounded by two other pirate skimmers.

The bear cursed, "Awww do me with a dead dingo's donger—!" but was cut short as a bullet smacked into his forehead. While Miyu and Fay watched in horror, his body fell limp and slid out of the driver's seat, plummeting into the water below. The pirates broke into cheers and jeers as the girls squirmed on the boat.

"What are we gonna do, what-are-we-gonna-do, _whatarewegonnado_!" Fay panicked. Miyu looked around, but they were now surrounded on two sides by pirate vessels. With Stephen dead they had a snowball's chance in Badwash of escaping alive.

Then, silhouetted by the blinding searchlights, Simon's avian form rose from the airboat. He handed the camera to Fay, finally managing a few halting words. "Here. Take this. Whatever you do; don't. Stop. Filming." He then jammed his pack on the accelerator, tore off his shirt, and used it to lock the steering lever in the left position. Under heavy bullet fire he removed a rope from the backpack, dashed to the front of the boat, and tore up the steel panel on the prow, wielding it as a shield. The fan buzzed back to life, immediately throwing the airboat in a tight circle to traverse the edge of the cove. As they neared the first pirate skimmer, Si crouched behind his shield and spun the rope above his head like a lasso. They could clearly see the terrified whites of the pirates' eyes as they bore down on them. At the last second before running aground, Si released the lasso, catching one of the pirates in the boat. The hoop tightened around his neck and pinned his body to the side of the boat. Tying the other end to the bench, Si used the trapped pirate to swing the airboat around in an even tighter arc—rather than colliding with the rocks, they skimmed over them like a ramp in a skating park. The pirate's neck and rib cage audibly snapped under the strain of having to hold the two boats, but since his body caught on the inside of his craft there was nothing he could do.

The improvised ramp sent them into the air—even higher than they had achieved before. They flew several feet above the surface of the water, landing atop the second boat which was closing on their previous position. The airboat slid sideways across the top of the skimmer, crushing the few pirates without the reflexes and sense to duck. Those that straightened back up after the airboat passed were gunned down by Si's revolver and steely cold precision. As the airboat lurched to a stop at the back of the skimmer, Simon, Miyu, and now Fay continued firing into the pirates below. Before they could fire back, Miyu had cooked a bewildered ferret with her blaster, while Simon and Fay annihilated the others. But their time with the upper hand was short-lived. The levibikes from earlier caught up, and their riders opened fire on the skimmer-mounted airboat. A stray bullet struck the gas tank, causing the rear of the airboat to explode and launch forwards, dumping the occupants into the water.

Miyu barely had time to suck in a breath before she plunged underwater. Beneath the surface it was dark and murky, but Miyu was close enough to the shore to find the bottom located six feet under. She spun around, facing up out of the water. As the surface boiled with turbulent waves, she could still see the bright blue planet of Aquas shimmering in the night sky.

Pushing off the side of the sinking airboat, Miyu swam beneath the surface until she found Fay's pearly white silhouette floundering against the shadowy water. She grabbed onto her teammate's arm, but rather than swimming upward she pulled Fay away from the wreckage and toward the shore, still maintaining the cover of water. Miyu was already pushing her own lungs to their limits, and Fay's return grip was tangibly loosening. While leading her with one hand she blindly reached out for the shore with the other. But instead of a sand, mud, or even rocky bank, her paw met weathered roots. There were hundreds of them everywhere she grasped, twisting and tangling about each other or digging into the soil beneath the shallow water. They would provide the perfect cover.

Miyu pulled Fay through the labyrinth of mangroves until they were well away from the open cove. Only then did she allow both herself and Fay to surface and gasp for their much-needed fix of air. As Fay coughed up an inordinate amount of water Miyu peered through the scraggly roots, keeping tabs on the pirates. One of the levibike riders checked on the massacred skimmer, probably to see what he could loot off his allies' corpses rather than out of concern for possible survivors. The other turned its searchlight on the coast and began a circuit around the cove. The bright yellow light revealed a sandy shore, clusters of rocks, reeds, and eventually the mangrove forest the girls were hiding in. Before the light reached them, Miyu slapped a hand over Fay's mouth and shushed her, attempting to silence her coughs. The yellow beam move closer, and Miyu held deathly still. For an instant the blinding eye was upon them, but it left just as quickly; the driver had not noticed them behind the web of mangrove roots.

The pirate would undoubtedly repeat the circuit, and once the speedboat from earlier arrived they would conduct a more thorough search, so Miyu realized they had to get moving. As soon as the beam of light passed she lead Fay in the opposite direction towards the shore. They escaped from the tightly-packed network of roots and once again found dry land, a pure treat after spending all morning on a boat. Miyu and Fay stumbled into the dark forest, tripping over plants and running smack into leaves and branches in their effort to escape.

* * *

)◯(

* * *

Miyu lost track of how long they had been running; only when Fay collapsed did she allow herself to stop as well.

Fay rolled onto her back, jaw dropping open and tongue hanging out as she panted for air. The camera fell to the ground with her, rolling to a stop a yard away. Miyu fell to her knees at the spaniel's feet, equally gasping for breath. Maybe they were safe for now; the pirates would have to land and chase after them, but the girls had such a long head start it would be difficult to track them.

Miyu noticed Fay's eyes go wide as she noticed something behind the lynx's shoulder. In a flash Miyu spun around, her blaster armed and pointed at the interloper's face.

A green parrot raised his hands in a sign of peace. "Oi, don't shoot!"

"Simon!" Miyu exclaimed in a half-curse. She let the tip of her blaster lower until it rested on the soft earth. "Why the hell did you sneak up on us?!"

"I didn't. You breathe like bum in crack house."

Still prone on her back, Fay gasped out, "Si! You... made it!"

"I've never seen anything like that," Miyu said in admiration.

The kakapo looked down and away from the girls. He shifted on his feet. "Oh, when you are Stephen Gill's cameraman, you pick up thing or two."

"Oh no," Fay moaned. "They got Stephen..."

Miyu involuntarily remembered the bear sprouting a red jewel in his head before tumbling into the marsh. She hadn't been too hot on the idea of following a pop icon around, but he was a skilled waterman and had a fun personality. More than anything, Miyu was sad for Fay. The girl was so excited to travel with the celebrity and even star on his show. It seemed like she looked up to Gills almost as much as she looked up to James McCloud. And now her television deal had completely fallen through, her TV star was dead, and there would be no more episodes of _Bear vs Wild._ Looking at her now, Fay seemed crushed. She had curled up into a ball and started sniffling.

Noticing Fay's despair, Simon gently scooped up the camera. He knelt and presented it to Fay, who dried her eyes and looked up in confusion.

"I have been cameraman all my life. I don't speak. I just film. When I sign up for _Bear vs Wild,_ they give me one rule; no matter what happens, never stop filming." He looked into the distance, as if picturing himself on an adventure with Stephen. "Even if it rains, I film. Even if we skydive onto plateau, I film. Even if venomous snake bites my ankle, I film. Even if Stephen catches himself on fire, or drowns in rapids, I film. Filming is like life. No matter what happens, you just keep living, watching, and remembering."

Fay sniffed and stopped drying her eyes. She fixed those trembling, glassy pools on the parrot. "That's the most beautiful outlook on life I've ever heard," she whimpered in awe.

"What happens when you run out of film?" Miyu protested.

Simon sniffed. "Change memory stick." After Fay accepted the camera, he finished, "Now that Stephen is gone, I will take his place, and _you_ will hold the camera. So no matter what happens; don't, stop, rolling!"

Miyu pointed to a muddy-brown amoeba hanging from beneath Simon's vest. "There's a giant frickin' leech-thing on your back, Si."

Rather than losing his shit, the kakapo clenched his fists, set his jaw, and narrowed his eyes. "Get a closeup, Fay."

Miyu lifted his shirt while Fay zoomed the camera in on Si's feathery green back and the offending leech sucking blood from it.

"Most likely a bushido leech, native to Bayoon," Si explained for the benefit of the camera. "They live in freshwater swamps and streams here. Feed on vertebrate blood. Not dangerous, but can store six-times their size in blood. Messy when you remove them."

"Ewwww!" Fay crinkled her nose from behind the camera. Simon firmly grabbed the leech and yanked it from his body. He tossed it far into the woods.

"Always check for leeches in freshwater habitats," Si continued. "If you were submerged a great deal, you must completely strip and check your entire body." Si began to pull off his shirt, which caused Fay to panic.

"Whoa, hey! Wait a minute!" She looked around for a place to run, but was stuck holding the camera.

"Remember Fay," Miyu teased her, "No matter what happens, keep filming!"

"B-b-but they can't air this!" Fay slapped the camera in Miyu's hands before bolting behind a tree and covering her eyes. "Tell me when I can look!"

Miyu held the view-finder to her eye and continued filming Simon. "Alright Si, let's find those leeches!"

The parrot stripped down to his boxers and began examining his limbs for more leeches. Miyu helped as well, scanning the part of his back that he couldn't see. To Miyu's disappointment they found no more of the revolting but morbidly captivating creatures.

After Simon got his clothes back on, Miyu called to Fay, "You can come out now. He's decent!"

Fay poked her head around the tree, confirming the parrot was clothed. Satisfied, she rejoined them and snatched the camera back from Miyu.

"So, what," Myu asked, "do we have to check as well?"

"Did you swim in freshwater?"

Miyu shook her head. "No, I don't think so. The marsh is salt-water, right?"

The kakapo nodded. "Yes. I swam into swamp to escape pirates, where that fella bit me. Swamp upstream from marsh."

"That's a relief," Fay said as she blew out a breath. She took the camera and started a panoramic view of the surrounding woods. "But where do we go from here?"

"Badwash Harbor," Simon stated, firmly. "It's safest place. Pirates dare not follow us there."

"But Mamba could be with them!" Miyu argued.

"The bounty-huntress you seek?"

"Yes. If we go back now, it may be days before we can mount another assault. While we're out here we should take the opportunity to look for her among the pirates."

"No," Simon reaffirmed. "Pirates outnumber us. If they find us, they will kill us, and do what they did to that family of Bayoons."

At this point Miyu stopped arguing. She glanced at Fay, and knew she would never forgive herself if the same fate befell her.

"You're right," she sighed. "Let's go back to the harbor and call in the Cornerians. Maybe then the pirates won't be so aggressive."

The wooded swamp was bathed in shadows thanks to the eclipse. While the sun was out of sight, the bright disc of Aquas still shone in the sky, reflecting sapphiric light through the weeping willows and vine-covered ashes. It was enough to reflect off the surface of streams and stagnant ponds, but not quite enough to light their way. In the dim blue light, Simon used a small utility flashlight from their pack to illuminate their path. He took the lead, guiding their small party east towards town. Miyu followed behind, scanning the swamp to their left and right for hidden enemies. Fay brought up the rear, eye glued to the camera's view-finder. Every minute or so Miyu would hear the spaniel trip over a root or splash into a billabong, as Stephen would have called them. RIP.

Breaking the empty silence, Si asked, "Stephen told you legend of swamp monster, correct?"

"Only a little bit," Miyu admitted. "Sounds kinda silly. Who would choose to believe in something like that?"

Simon paused a moment to scan the trees in front of them with his flashlight. "Many claim to have seen it. They say even more have gone missing. According to witnesses, it has form of burning man—covered entirely in flames. Has red horns and single eye in forehead. Hides beneath water in day, roams swamp at night."

"Wouldn't the water extinguish his fire?" Miyu questioned.

A gurgling sound came from behind, and Simon raised a fist for them to halt. "Quiet," he ordered. "You hear that?"

The two of them turned around, but only saw Fay grinning sheepishly.

"Sorry," she apologized, "I haven't eaten since this morning."

"Come to think of it, I'm pretty hungry too," Miyu agreed. "Should we stop to eat here, Si?"

Glancing between the girls, Simon nodded. "Alright. We stop here. But not for long! Pirates may be following us."

The trio sat on the mossy bank beside a creek, placing the pack between them. Fay pulled out the water bottles while Miyu found the sandwiches. She handed one to Fay, kept one for herself, and offered one to the parrot, but he shook his head.

"No. It... it wouldn't be right."

"What're you going to eat, then?" Fay asked as she profanely chomped down on a po' boy sandwich.

Simon reached into the pack and removed a small hatchet.

"Tree bark. In Stephen's memory. He... he would have wanted it this way."

As the parrot disappeared into the woods to find a suitable willow, Miyu asked, "What, raw?"

"No," he called over his shoulder, "I will boil it."

" _That_ helps?" Fay exclaimed with a stuffed mouth.

Miyu reasoned that Simon left as much to get away from their tempting meal as he actually wanted to find a willow. The po' boys were delicious, especially after such a long period of exertion without food. Miyu enjoyed any and all seafood, even if her home planet Katina lacked most aquatic wildlife besides lake and river fish, and had to rely on imported goods. The battered shrimp tasted heavenly with lettuce, pickles, mayonnaise, and bound with a foot-long baguette. But before she could fully savor the sandwich, it was gone, and Miyu found herself washing it down with her water bottle.

Wiping off her mouth, Miyu stood up. "Nature beckons," she explained when Fay looked up questioningly. She'd been on an airboat for the majority of the day, and couldn't exactly piss off the side of the ship like the men.

"W-wait!" Fay exclaimed, standing up hurriedly as well. "You're just gonna leave?"

"Relax, Fay," Miyu said, "I won't go too far. Just stay here. I'll be back in a minute."

Fay glanced around nervously. "Can't I just follow you?"

Miyu shook her head. "Then what happens when Simon gets back and the only thing left of us is the pack, huh? You need to stay here and wait for him. And for god's sake it's only for a minute! I need some privacy!"

The outburst made Fay plop back down. "Fine," she whimpered. "But make it quick, and-and don't go too far!"

"What, are you scared the _swamp monster_ is gonna find you?" Miyu teased as she walked away.

"N... no..." Fay trailed off.

"Good. The _pirates_ are the ones that'll get ya."

"Miyuuu!" Fay whined in fear.

The lynx grinned mischievously as she hopped over the bushes and away from their little camp. Once she could only barely make out Fay's glowing white form in the distance she slipped behind a tree and reached for her pants. But as she grabbed the zipper, she noticed a funny-colored light reflected in the nickel surface.

Miyu looked up and glanced around the swamp. Was it the glow of a pirate's flashlight? Maybe just Aquas' light? Her eyes were drawn to the shallow creek that wound through the marsh in front of her. A strange yellow glow sparkled beneath the surface. The urge to investigate was irresistible.

At this point in time during the eclipse, Miyu's clothes we damp but not insufferably wet. They had dried somewhat since her tumble into the marsh, so she removed her boots, tied the laces together, and slung them over her shoulder. She stepped down the bank and onto the pebbly shore that bordered the creek, padding across the pebbly surface. When she first set foot in the water an electrifying shock shot up her spine—but only from the chill of the water, and not some strange chemical permeating it. Miyu pressed on until she was calf-deep in the water, at which point she could more closely investigate the strange glow.

From afar it had looked like little yellow sparkles scattered beneath the surface, but now up close and in the shadows which blocked Aquas' reflection she could see it clearer. The glow came from a form of phosphorescent yellow liquid that floated and oozed like goo down the creek. At first it flowed down in specks and clumps, but then long strands and clouds worked their way downstream.

Miyu glanced backwards to look at Fay, but noted she was still alone at their rest stop. She couldn't take Fay with her, and she didn't want to wait for Simon to return with his meal... so she decided to go alone.

The feline waded back out of the creek, not wanting to come in contact with the goo anymore than she already had. She followed the creek closely, still walking in her bare paws. She followed the creek for some time—well beyond losing sight of Fay. If worse came to worst, she could just follow the creek back to her location.

After padding through the soft creek bank for some time, Miyu noticed a large shadow in the distance. It couldn't have been a boulder, for it was too large and out in the open. It couldn't have been a house, as the creek seemed to run straight through it. Seeking answers, she investigated further.

Finally, after a large amount of shortened breaths, Miyu arrived at the object. With the help of the yellow stream and the ambient blue light of Aquas, she realized it was some sort of aircraft. Mamba's downed ship? No, it was too large—a freighter, more precisely. It was only designed for in-atmospheric flight, and built in a rectangular shape to maximize storage capacity. Miyu, Fay, and Cira had flown a couple missions guarding such transports, though generally their cargo was more valuable than... whatever this freighter was shipping through the middle of nowhere.

Miyu carefully observed the transport vessel, coming to the conclusion that it had crash-landed. The impact trail stretched out a hundred feet behind the ship—a wide ditch dug through the muddy earth. A shorn-off wing lay against a tree a ways back, reflecting the light of Aquas. The ship itself was badly damaged, the crash having scraped the nose and wings off, rent the armor, and bent the hull at an acute angle. The cargo bay lay right in the stream bed, and the creek flowed freely between the bay doors, which the crash had unhinged. Miyu felt disappointed that the transport wasn't the source of the yellow pigmentation—as the source of the chemical was upstream from the freighter—but she decided to investigate anyway. Who knows; she might find survivors.

To enter the aircraft, Miyu had to set foot in the polluted water again. She didn't trust the ghostly chemical at first, but at least it wasn't acidic or radioactive. If that were the case, the water would boil and steam, emit heat, and kill nearby flora. Scooting down the edge of the bank, Miyu tested the water with one of her hind paws. It didn't burn it off, which was reassuring. A bit.

Throwing caution to the wind, Miyu placed both of her feet into the creek and began wading to the downed vehicle. The mustard-colored substance swirled in little eddies around her legs, and clung to her fur when she lifted them above the water. But besides that, the phosphorescent chemical seemed harmless.

Miyu reached the fallen transport. She slid into the open gate, and the ground below her paws changed from pebbly creek-bottom to metallic floor. She was inside the freighter now, alone in the pitch-black interior.

Her wrist comm suddenly buzzed, causing her to jump out of the water. Checking her device, she confirmed it was only Fay calling. Of course—who else would it be? Crouching against the wall of the ship, Miyu answered in a low voice, "Fay, what's wrong?"

" _It's scary here!"_ the spaniel wailed.

"It's freakin' scary here, too!" Miyu hissed back. "What, has that overgrown parrot not returned yet?"

" _No... I think he's still harvesting bark."_

"Well whatever floats his airboat. Say, if you get hungry you could eat the sandwich he didn't want."

" _A sandwich can't keep me company!"_ Fay exclaimed. _"Now where are you?"_

"That's a good question..." The light generated by her wrist unit was enough to illuminate the inside of the freighter, allowing Miyu to make out some of its features. "I followed a trail of some strange chemical to a downed aircraft. Obviously crashed here, but I wonder why."

" _Could the pirates have shot it down?"_

"Maybe," Miyu said, nodding slowly. "When Si returns, follow the creek upstream until you reach a wrecked transport. I'll be inside that. In the meantime I'll snoop around a bit.

" _All right, you be careful Miyu!"_

"Yeah, you too. See ya soon."

Miyu ended the call but kept her wrist comm on—the call had given her an idea. She used the excess light of the unit to guide her way through the ship, the same way she would have used her wavephone back home to hunt through her room. In this manner she headed towards the back of the cargo bay, investigating its contents.

Not much turned up. Only some empty crates, the majority of which were empty. The few packages that weren't empty contained food—desserts and other special treats that Miyu had never seen before, though she guessed they were native to Bayoon. The lack of supplies on the freighter meant it had already dropped its cargo off and was making the return trip—or at least had been until something had caused it to crash. But even if it had completed the shipment, a cargo log would be located somewhere aboard.

Empty-handed, Miyu returned to the brook which cleaved the ship in two. She leapt across the water, not wanting to get any more of the substance on her shins. Landing with a grunt and a crouch on the opposite side she noticed a yellow stain on the floor next to her. She had probably just splashed some over there when Fay startled her. But after climbing the rest of the way to the cockpit, she began noticing even more stains. Hopefully a wild animal had wandered in to explore. Or had the pilot gone back inside to retrieve something?

The large, two-person cockpit was empty when she found it. Apart from a few stains nothing seemed out of place. Taking this as a good omen, Miyu sat in the co-pilot's chair and turned on the flight system. An outdated LED display flickered between the seats, and the radio came on, startling her. A gravelly reptilian voice burst through the speakers, laying down angsty vocals over a strumming electric guitar and plodding beat.

 _When it's dark I'm always on the run  
_ _God forbid I look up and howl at the sun  
_ _I'm the were, I'm the wolf, I can't just pick one  
_ _I wake up and can't believe what I've done_

For a few seconds Miyu frantically played around with the controls in an effort to silence the radio, but over time she realized it was comforting. It made her feel less alone, and dispelled the unnerving quiet, even if it wasn't one of the most upbeat of tunes. When she found the volume control, the lynx lowered it to an unobtrusive level, then committed herself to finding clues about the transport's mission and demise. All freighters carried a list of exported and imported cargo, and it wasn't long before Miyu located that list on the PDA. As the song broke into a slow, power-chord chorus she scanned the inventory for hazardous or suspicious materials.

 _Well the doctor ain't got my pills  
_ _And I think he wishes me ill  
_ _Yeah the doctor's a joker  
_ _That sick doctor joker  
_ _And I'm the creature, a mystery  
_ _Hide_

By the end of the list, nothing jumped out at Miyu. The log mentioned no explosives, materials that could interfere with equipment, or chemicals that could incapacitate the pilot if mishandled. All of it was harmless goods probably for the festival; cotton candy mixes, sweets, edible items for food carts and stands, and other scratch ingredients. The only out-of place item on the list was the enormous amount of food coloring: yellow 60 lake, to be precise. Yellow food coloring...

 _Yeah I don't understand how I can be as bad as him  
_ _Seems like I have to fight fire with fire just to win  
_ _And I can reflect but I don't recognize myself  
_ _In the mirror, so I shout and cry for help_

Miyu glanced around the cockpit, examining the fluorescent yellow splotches with renewed interest. They dotted the cabin at intermittent places; the floor, the doorknob, the seats, a control panel, even a mark on the windshield. Was it all just food dye? It was possible. Stephen mentioned earlier that day that locals used yellow food coloring as part of their festival. That would explain the large amount the ship was transporting. But where were the containers? Why hadn't she seen any in back? The inventory list marked the item as "DELIVERED" without leftovers... had the pilot lied? Had he carried the dye upstream and dumped it? It didn't make sense.

 _The doc says he ain't got no pills  
_ _But I think he wishes me ill_

Miyu turned her attention to the crew. The flight log contained two data files of staff-members: Alistair Ramson and Basil Rathbone, the pilot and co-pilot. Were they pirate aliases smuggling something? It was a possibility. They certainly weren't Bayoon natives, given their names and appearances. They were both canids.

 _Yeah this doctor's a joker  
_ _Goddamn doctor joker_

Something was awfully funny about the yellow stains. Their spread and splatter-radius weren't natural, at least if they had been spilled on accident. They were more violent, ending up on out-of-place locations. They had to have been spread by something, like a limb or rag.

Miyu looked up at the yellow mark on the windshield. Only then did she realize it was a hand-print.

 _When the sun comes up, why can't this monster  
Hide_

As the last chord played out, Miyu's eyes shifted focus to something past the hand print. Something caught her eye out in the swamp; an amber glow blinking between the shadows of trees. Was it... was it headed this way?!

A loud splash sounded from the cargo bay. Miyu jumped and whirled around, blaster at the ready. It trembled in her hand.

"Miyu!" Fay called. "Miyu, are you in here?"

The lynx sighed and lowered her blaster. She glanced back through the window, but the twinkle had vanished. Worrying, or maybe she had just imagined it.

Miyu turned around and walked down the short hall to the cargo bay. There was Fay, ankle deep in the yellow creek that flowed through the transport. The spaniel frowned as she tried shaking the goo off her boots, but looked up and smiled when she saw Miyu.

"So where's the camera?" the feline asked. "Did you drop it in the creek?"

Fay shook her head happily. "Nope: it's waterproof! Si has it outside. He's taking a wide-angle shot of the ship."

"Doesn't he have anything better to do?"

Fay ignored her comment. She scraped some of the yellow paste off her leg and examined it.

"They never showed this stuff on _Bayoon Bushcraft!_ Yuck! ...But at the same time, it's kinda cool, don't you think?"

Miyu didn't answer, instead reflecting the cistrine nebula off her eyes as she stared into the twisting patterns.

"Si said it's a phosphe... phosphorescent food dye used in local celebrations. Can you believe people actually eat this stuff? It's so pretty I'd rather have it in my minnohe aquarium, or in a lava lamp. Or-or in the garden pond at my Zoness estate. It's mesmerizing, isn't it? But drinking and swimming in the stuff is where I draw the line. I can't imagine filling a pool with this or putting it in food... though if the Aquans do it, I guess I could."

"It's not safe to drink creek water, Fay," Miyu warned her.

Fay looked up from the creek and giggled. She waved a paw. "Oh, of course I knew that. _Corneria Untamed: Season 1!_ " And she hummed a few bars of the opening theme song.

Miyu took her hand and lead her outside. "Well come on, I've gotta report my findings to you and Simon."

As she brought Fay back into the water again the spaniel cried, "Hey, I just finished getting this stuff off of me! Ew, eeeww!"

* * *

◯✹(

* * *

After exiting the freighter, Miyu noticed a change in the lighting; Bayoon's shadow on Aquas was lengthening and moving off to the planet's west side. The sky was brightening from black to blue and purple, with rosier colors peaking up from the horizon. The moon was transitioning to its afternoon phase.

Outside they met Simon, who had just finished his filming circuit around the wreckage. He handed the camera to Fay when they met.

"What you find?" he asked, conserving words as always.

"It's a transport freighter," Miyu began, as obvious as it was. "It just delivered a cargo of edible goods and ingredients. It shipped a huge amount of yellow food coloring. Fay said you told her it's for the festivals? And the dye is causing this discoloration in the creek?"

Si merely nodded, remaining silent for her to go on.

"...Well the pilot and co-pilot aren't in the wreckage. There are signs of a struggle inside, and the source of the food dye is somewhere upstream. Some details just didn't add up—they don't sit right with me. Oh, and just before you showed up I saw a light moving out there in the swamp. What do you think it was?"

"Pirates," Si said without hesitation, "using flashlights."

"Oh, I guess it could have been. I didn't see anything indicating how the ship crashed, though."

"Pirates shot it down. Crew moved cargo upstream. Needed help. Dropped in creek and ran."

"Yes, but the flight log says they dropped off all their cargo without any leftovers. Where did they get all that dye?"

Si shrugged. "Maybe they're pirates. Lie about cargo. Intend to steal."

Miyu stared at Simon with a questioning grimace. His economy of words never ceased to trip her up.

"Boy, Season 2's ratings are doomed..."

"Come," Simon said as he stepped around the fallen ship. "Follow creek. Find source. Get answers."

Miyu replaced her boots before falling in behind the parrot, with Fay bringing up the rear. Miyu assumed she'd be afraid of walking that far behind them, but Fay was so enraptured in her work she didn't have the sense to be afraid. It was only now after examining the way Fay expertly held the camera that Miyu remembered she had participated in the film and photography club at whatever snooty private school she attended. Miyu would erase the last traces of that preppy girl attitude yet.

Their troupe followed the glimmering water upstream. The farther they hiked, the thicker and brighter the chemical grew. The sun was just peaking up over the hills to the west of the marsh, a dull golden eyelid in the distance. While it was bright enough to see their way, the dawn sky cast elongated shadows over the shrouded swamp.

Eventually they ran into a wall of tightly packed bushes, trees and nettles. The thick undergrowth forced the trio to wade into the creek rather than follow along the shore. The dirt banks on either side rose to steep inclines—inescapable walls that effectively boxed them in. Leafy plants and fallen logs created a canopy over the valley, with intermittent vines hanging into their path. Though the water never rose beyond their knees, the overhanging vegetation forced them to duck closer to the surface. Virtually all of the water was saturated with the chemical now; it was clear the source wasn't far off.

One by one they spilled out into a wider, shallower section of the valley. If Miyu could've stopped them from entering, she would have. It was instantaneous. They didn't have time to think. Their foresight was blinded by vines. And it was too late to turn back.

In the hollow lay a Lylatian body. He wasn't moving. Covered in the phosphorescent liquid from head to foot, leaking out of every pore in his head and skin. Small growths forming in his nose, mouth, ears, and eyes. He was so bright he looked like he was on fire.

This: _this_ was the source of the pollution.

Fay cried out and placed her paws over her muzzle. Miyu's own eyes widened, and her jaw dropped in terror. She looked down at the limp form, yellow chemicals leaking from his stomach, scraps of fur and chunks of skin hanging like algae in the stream, and black blood...

"Shit," Simon cursed.

"Oh my god, that's the pilot!" Miyu exclaimed.

"What is... _wrong_ with him?!" Fay asked in a shrill, trembling voice.

Before either of her two companions could make a guess, the water suddenly stirred. To their horror, the corpse gurgled and shifted, rolling over onto his stomach. What once had been a canine now crouched in the water, shaking violently.

It was too late to turn back.

The phantom launched itself off its haunches and attacked Simon, tearing into him like a paper shredder. Its snapping jaws were ravenous, snarling and emitting guttural screeches as it tried to get a bite out of Simon's face. The parrot swiftly grabbed its neck, keeping the feral teeth at bay, but the creature was possessed by a herculean form of strength. He could only hold its head and one of its claws at a time, leaving the other claw to slash at his face. In seconds it was drawing blood and ripping through the avian's clothes and feathers.

"Arrrgh!" Simon grunted as he wrestled with the monster.

After recovering from her shock, Miyu regained her wits and drew her blaster. Her hands shook as she pointed the weapon, but she couldn't get a clear shot at the beast, which was behind the parrot. She circled around him to get a better vantage point.

"S-Simon!" her voice shook. "Don't move!" Holding in her breath, Miyu fired a laser charge into the creature's side. The impact of burning energy blasted a spray of glowing liquid and singed fur away from a hole in its rib cage, but it had minimal effect. A similar shot would have ended the life of any other Lylatian or wild beast, but somehow this one was still up and fighting. The mutant pilot turned his attention to Miyu, pushing off Simon with powerful force and leaping onto her instead. It knocked the wind out of Miyu and slammed her against the steep stream bank. She instinctively closed her eyes and grappled with the monster as it tore at her face, but she heard a series of splashes and the weight lifted from her torso. Opening her eyes, she realized Simon had tackled the beast.

"RUN!" he ordered. "I have wrestled alligators hungrier than him while holding camera!"

With blood dripping down her face, and burning lacerations in her cheeks, Miyu grabbed onto Fay's paw and lead her out of the hollow. The teammates plunged through the creek, sending storms of splashes up in every direction. Once they escaped the valley they climbed onto the bank and broke into a full sprint back in the direction of the downed transport. They thumped through the dirt and grass for several minutes, but Miyu noticed the creature running after them now. _Had it killed Simon?!_

Miyu shoved Fay away, splitting off from the creek and leaving her teammate to follow the stream alone. "Go!" she cried. "I'll draw it off!"

"Miyu!"

The lynx fired two bursts at the barreling comet of fire, but neither of her shots landed. And even if they did, they wouldn't have affected it much. But the bright flashes of laser caught the monster's attention, and it chose to follow Miyu over Fay, achieving their intended effect.

 _Great, now what?_ Miyu hadn't had much of a plan besides that. Truthfully her only intention was to keep Fay safe. She had no idea what to do from this point.

She looked forward too late, and as a result took a long tumble down a bank. She splashed into a swamp pond at the bottom, but quickly righted herself and rushed out. After running past a maze of trees, she picked out a particularly large trunk and hid behind it. Falling to her rump, she clutched her blaster in both hands and caught her breath, breathing violently though it would give away her position. Even Miyu knew she could run but not hide from that... _thing._

She wanted a confrontation. She had to kill it. Avenge Simon, avenge the scars on her face, avenge even the mere _danger_ it put Fay in. Its flank was immune to blaster shots, but not invincible. She had still blown chunks away. If she aimed at the head, could she kill it? Or would the torso keep attacking her, even without a head? No, it had to work. She set the charge on her blaster to maximum, and it emitted a slight hum as it stored up energy for the next shot.

Then, she waited.

She had reinvigorated her body with enough oxygen that she could breathe silently now. Her blaster was charged and quiet as well.

...And so was the swamp.

She couldn't hear anything—besides the flowing creek water. But the insects, birds, and other wild animals were all silent. The sun now floated above the hills, completely visible and lighting up the sky with pink rays. The horror of mysterious night was gone, but in its place was the uncertain dawn of Bayoon's afternoon. Had the monster stopped following her? Or was it lying in wait somewhere? Worse yet—had it gone after Fay?

Blaster at the ready, Miyu rose slightly and poked her head out from behind the tree. Nothing on her left.

She exhaled, settled back down, then took another breath before checking her right.

A pair of glowing fangs met her, inches from her face. Miyu yelped and the monster snapped open its jaws to close on her. It lunged forward, but Miyu instinctively raised her blaster with lightning-fast reflexes. She fired, intending to shoot up through the monster's jaw, but was a millisecond too slow. She instead blew a powerful shot through the creature's neck, severing the head as it fell frozen against her own face.

The lynx recoiled as the disembodied muzzle bounced off her own head, and she slung the rest of the body off herself.

Her heart stormed faster than a speedcore track she dug up on bandcamp and only really listened to as a novelty. She stared down at the corpse, this time completely still. It continued leaking phosphorescent liquid, which she readily stepped away from.

 _This_ time, it was dead.

Miyu smiled stupidly and shook her head. _Wow._ She waded through the pond and climbed back up the incline. At the top she hailed Fay over her wrist comm.

" _Miyu!"_ Fay exclaimed, _"Where are you?! Are you okay?!"_

Letting out a pleased sigh, Miyu answered, "Yeah Fay, I'm fine. A little shook up, but I'll be alright. I... I killed it!" she proclaimed.

" _Atta girl!"_ Fay cheered. _"Wait... you actually_ fought _it? What were you thinking?! It could have_ killed _you!"_

Miyu chuckled. "Alright Fay, You can chew me out when we meet back up. Don't come to me; I'll come to you. Have you reached the ship yet?"

" _Yes."_

"Good. Hide inside and lie low until I get back there. Once I return, we'll set out together and search the creek for Simon."

" _Do you... do you think he lived?"_ Fay asked in a low voice.

Miyu sighed again. "I don't know, Fay. But if he can do everything Bear Gills does while holding a camera, I don't think some... creature thing could get the best of him so easily. Now I'll be there in five or ten minutes. Bye."

" _See you soon."_

Miyu ended the call and focused on returning to the freighter. All she could manage was a tired, pathetic jog, but she couldn't wait to confirm that Fay was alright again. She headed west towards the rising sun, then south and downstream after meeting back up with the creek. After that it was only a matter of minutes before the downed aircraft came into sight. Miyu smiled after laying eyes on the shining metal frame between the trees and hanging moss, but the smile was laced with pain; her facial wounds continued to sting even after the monster was dead. Surely Fay would offer to clean them up, but that would prove just as painful...

By now the sun was even higher, and the sky was a pale blue laced with clouds. The swamp was much brighter, and it was easier for Miyu to see her way. With the source of the infection removed from the creek, the stream was slowly returning to normal as new water washed the chemical away, but the yellow wasn't completely gone yet. It looked rather pretty in the blue light—much less ominous than it did during the eclipse. Still, the thought of where it came from was disturbing.

Miyu splashed into the creek and ducked inside. From the cargo bay, she called out, "Fay, I'm here!" and moved towards the front of the ship. The red bow and floppy ears that Miyu loved so much poked out above the pilot's seat, greeting her. Miyu stopped in the doorway, waiting for Fay's reaction.

The chair swiveled around, and the spaniel came to face Miyu. She stared past her with dead, lifeless eyes. Crouching behind the seat was another fiery canine monster, gargling as it stared up at Miyu. It had torn out Fay's throat.

Miyu was petrified with horror. She couldn't move. She could only experience fear and despair.

 _No! The co-pilot! The other glow she had seen across the—_

Disgorging a bolus of blood and citrine chemical from its mouth, the creature leapt over the limp spaniel and opened wide to consume Miyu, its black jaws filling up all of her vision.


	4. Re Start

**Chapter 4: Re;Start**

* * *

 _Sparkles of aureolin light flickered into existence, filling the void where before there had only been darkness. In no time, the flashing pixies enveloped Miyu's vision entirely, dazzling the lynx into wonderment. Soon the darkness slipped from her mind, as if it never existed._

 _The warm light took on physical shape, sharpening at the center, but remaining blurred at the edges of Miyu's eyesight. The individual glows were leaves, fluttering down in cascades from above. They alighted on the dirt forest path, cushioning her bare paws as she walked. The labyrinth of aspen trees surrounded her on every side, swallowing her world and continuing in each direction as far as the eye could see. The aspens towered over Miyu, just as she remembered them. They dwarfed her in comparison. For some reason, she felt unusually small, but at the same time the smallness felt right—normal. The forest provided a subworld of wonder and beauty to be explored._

 _She wasn't alone. Skipping along the path beside her, kicking up sprays of leaves, was another lynx. She was smaller than Miyu, but the difference was unnoticeable when compared to the relative size of the trees. Her fur was lighter than Miyu's—cream-colored with soft brown highlights, light enough to reflect the warm glow of the leaves. Her head bobbed up and down merrily as she skipped. When she noticed Miyu staring, she fixed her sapphire eyes on her and grinned. She took her paw in hers, inviting her to skip along the path as well._

 _Lily._

 _Their father had given her that name to show solidarity with the Cornerian Integration program. In some ways, Miyu was jealous of the foreign-sounding name, but Lily equally admired Miyu and the rest of their family's names. It had always been a topic of curiosity, conversation—and sometimes contention. But not here, not now, lost between the trees._

 _A creek came to meet the path, trickling parallel to it. The leaves flitted down to light on top the moving water, creating a network of warm stars over the reflected clouds; a yellow nebula pulsing over a gray backdrop._

 _Eventually they came across their favorite picnic spot; a hollow in the trees, at the center of which stood a hill that overlooked the stream. The felids climbed the hill, and Miyu set down a basket she hadn't even realized she was carrying._

 _Lily reached into the basket and removed a purple and green-checkered bed sheet, which she spread across the hilltop with dainty gestures. Miyu never understood her desire for sanitation; if she had it her way she would grab a chicken leg and wade downstream, exploring the creek._

 _While her sister spread the blanket, Miyu began eagerly unpacking food. She quickly dug into her fish sandwich, gnawing away at the tough baguette. While shrimp was her favorite topping, there was something appealing about eating fish her own father caught. Next she pried open the clams and clawed out the juicy bags of meat inside, dropping them into her waiting mouth. After each messy mouthful, she shamelessly licked her fingers clean._

 _Her sister kept her eating habits more refined. She cut her sandwich into smaller sections with a knife—something Miyu had snuck from the house out of consideration for her. Whereas Miyu ate with grunts and sprays of crumbs, Lily ate in a civilized manner; she could see so much of their mother in her. Lily even had Miyu remove the clams from their shells rather than get her own paws dirty, much like their father would do for them._

 _Once they finished their meal, Miyu lay down on the grass-covered hillside and stared up through the tall aspen trees, her arms crossed behind her head. Lily knelt on the clean sheet and pulled out her camera. It was a cheep Polaroid model, a far cry from their father's collection. At least it had the benefit of instant gratification, instantaneously printing the captured scene on an adorably-framed film strip._

 _The rumbling hum of an engine made itself heard over their heads. Miyu opened an eye to stare up through the trees, identifying its source. It was a cargo ship; a freighter plugging along beneath the cloudy sky. The noise also caught Lily's attention. She aimed her camera upwards, laying on her back beside Miyu for a better angle. With a snap and a whir, the camera flashed and spat out a picture; a picture Lily didn't bother to shake and materialize just yet. She let it remain in its undeveloped state, its contents trapped in a state of uncertainty until a later revelation._

 _"Do you still want to make that missionary team?" her sister asked, following the freighter with shimmering blue eyes._

 _"Mercenary team," Miyu corrected. "And yeah, I still do."_

 _"Dad says if you start one, you'll have to leave here a lot. For work, like he does."_

 _"That's the point," Miyu sighed, closing her eyes and settling into the hillside. "I wanna get as far away from this nowhere place as possible and have a real adventure."_

 _Lily thought on that for a moment—just long enough for it to disagree with her._

 _"I don't want you to leave. I want you to stay here with us. There's so much more of the forest to explore, if you want to... but I just want to have a picnic here, in this same spot every day."_

 _"That sounds really boring."_

 _"But I like it here," Lily fought. "I don't want it to change..." She snapped a second photo, this time of the creek dotted with yellow leaves. She gripped the resulting picture like it was her lifeline, but again refrained from shaking it clear._

 _"If you have to leave, could I come with you?"_

 _Miyu's whiskers twitched. "You mean... join my team?"_

 _"Yeah."_

 _Miyu gave it some thought. "I dunno Lily; you don't really seem mercenary material. You have to be willing to leave home, to leave mom and dad behind, along with your picnic cloths and fancy knives and napkins. You act too much like a girl, you know that? Like those prim and proper Cornerian brats from the integration program. You gotta be more like dad, you know? Not like those dogs from Corneria."_

 _"Miyu!"_

 _The lynx frowned, knowing she had misspoken. "I'm sorry Lily. You know what I mean. You gotta be tough. You have to be strong, independent—able to get your own food. You need a thick outer skin that no one can poke through with little names that they call you."_

 _"I can be tough," Lily pouted. She took a third picture, the subject of which was an empty clam shell Miyu had cleaned out for her._

 _"Well, if that's the case, I guess I don't have a reason to keep you off the team, huh?"_

 _The last picture printed out. "I guess not."_

 _Lily put the camera aside and lay down next to Miyu, copying her posture and staring up at the sky. She tuned a small, transistor radio to a local music station, and closed her eyes. The folk-blues tune came through with little static, slowly lulling them to sleep._

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

 _"Sorry Miss Moon  
_ _I couldn't get away  
_ _I waited for an eclipse  
_ _So I could say_

 _I love you  
_ _I love you  
_ _So much more_

 _But sorry Miss Moon  
_ _I have to run away  
_ _Daylight's coming soon  
_ _So I can't stay_

' _Cause you're the only  
_ _Jewel I see  
_ _Dancing 'round the clouds  
_ _It's only you and me_

 _Yeah you're the only jewel I—"_

Miyu jerked awake as something tapped against the glass. She remembered having such a peaceful sleep before, it was a pity the disturbance brought her out of it. She blinked her eyes open and slowly adjusted to the bright blue and white light streaming in through the canopy. One of the clouds sharpened into Fay's blinding form, and Miyu felt at rest.

She began to right herself in her seat, as she had curled up in a sleeping position, but noticed an unfamiliar tugging around her neck. She slipped a finger into her shirt's collar, plucking to loosen it. She was surprised when her digit came in contact with a chord she never remembered. It was... a necklace? The lynx fished the pendant at the other end out of her shirt and studied it; it was a polished shell carved in the shape of a hand, reflective enough to see her own face. It seemed completely alien to her, but something told her she _should_ remember it from somewhere. What was she forgetting?

Growing impatient, Fay pounded on the canopy again, startling Miyu. She let the pendant sink back beneath her shirt and popped the windshield open. She hopped out onto the wooden deck, but stumbled as she lost her balance. Fay was quick enough to catch her before she fell.

"Whoa there, steady girl!" Fay coaxed her. "You've been in that ship too long. A little walking will do you some good."

Miyu felt disoriented and light-headed. Her surroundings seemed strange and unfamiliar, yet she couldn't shake a creeping feeling of déjà vu. She gladly accepted Fay's help, shifting her weight onto the spaniel as they walked. Miyu looked up from the wooden planks and lapping ocean, and her eyes settled on the town.

Something was wrong.

It was all there: the teal waters of the salt lake, the small town a dozen blocks wide made up of multi-colored buildings, ramshackle makeshifts, and repurposed steamships, and the field next to the beach covered in grass and amusement rides.

"So how does Badwash look, huh? I think it's kinda cute," Fay chirped.

" _What the fuh..."_ Miyu gasped, sinking to her knees.

"Miyu, what's wrong?"

Miyu wasn't listening; she was too busy figuring out how she got here, back to this same place. She remembered trailing Black Mamba to Bayoon, stealing her cargo, falling asleep while Fay managed her autopilot, waking up to that song on the radio, and having the _Sveno_ docked over the lake. She remembered waking up, but... she remembered it two different ways. Had Fay knocked twice, or only once? Hadn't she stretched upon leaving her fighter, or had she stumbled for Fay to catch her? And wasn't there a ticket building where the dock and wharf met?

Sure enough, as Miyu looked up, her eyes alighted on the small wooden building occupied by a pig and a basset hound jabbering away. How had she known that? Did she see it before and just forget it was there?

...But there were more memories, weren't there?

A flood of images and colored shapes exploded in Miyu's head. They flashed across her inner mind, switching and traveling past almost too fast for her to follow. She remembered meeting a celebrity survivalist with Fay, venturing out into the swamp on fan-propelled crafts, running into pirates, finding a downed transport in the swamp, a creek that glowed like a swarm of fireflies, and-and—

Miyu gasped unconsciously. That monster! It had killed Fay, and the last thing she remembered was it jumping towards her, jaws opening wide around her—

Fay snapped Miyu's head to face her. "Miyu!"

The lynx let forth an involuntary scream right in the canine's face. The spaniel jumped backwards, and a flock of seagulls took off from the lake's surface.

"Miyu, what's the matter?!" Fay yipped, becoming frightened herself.

The lynx held her face in her hands, staring wide-eyed past the weathered planks of the dock. "I don't understand how I got here, I-I..." She looked up at Fay, eyes wide and trembling. "Fay, I came back to the ship and saw you... you were... _dead..."_

The expression on Fay's face made a change towards the sympathetic. She wrapped her arms tightly around Miyu, hugging her. "Aw, you must've had a really bad dream. I'm sorry Miyu; you had to stay up for 48 hours on that chase so you could let me rest, and then when you wake up you're in a strange place you've never seen before. Come on, let's go on a fun adventure and make you forget all those bad dreams. What do you say to that?"

"No, you don't understand, I _know_ I've been here before... it's like a bad case of déjà vu, a _really_ bad case of déjà vu."

"Alright Miyu, let's find a nice, quiet place to sit down and you can have a moment to... calm yourself—and think it through."

Miyu took several deep breaths, then sniffed.

"You're right. Let's get out of here. Just get away from everyone for a second. I... I need a moment. Let's just get the hell outta here."

She accepted Fay's hand up, but then took the lead, pulling her along by the same grip. They stormed past the ticket booth, but the pig behind the cash box wasn't about to let them go.

"Hey, are you girls alright?"

Miyu and Fay turned around, reluctantly acknowledging the dock supervisor and the ranger.

"You sounded a little distressed there," the pig explained. "I was wondering if you might need some help."

Miyu rubbed her paw across her face, almost tearing up. "Pay him the money, Fay."

"Huh? Wh-wha—?"

"Pay him 20 credits, and let him log your card," Miyu elaborated. "Just do it."

As the pig accepted the cred chip, he nodded in surprise, and the ranger commented, "You girls don't look like you're from around here. See, ya don't exactly have that Bayoon Belle appearance, and your fighters look out of this world. Yet you've obviously been here before, since ya know the price. So, welcome back to Badwash!"

"Oh no, we've never been here before—"

Miyu shot Fay a poisonous glare and jabbed her with an elbow. "Yeah, I checked ahead for the best dock," she explained. "I did some research and found the best price and location."

The pig chuckled as he handed the cred chip back. "Ha. It's the _only_ dock in Badwash Harbor. Can't imagine you were overwhelmed with options."

Miyu's whiskers twitched in displeasure. "I um... came to that same conclusion myself. Just a joke, really. Well, see ya."

She grabbed Fay's paw and sprang off down the wharf, but Fay resisted.

"Wait, Miyu!" She stepped closer to the lynx and whispered, blushing, _"Can't you ask them where the nearest restroom is?"_

Miyu executed a full head and eye-roll, then pulled Fay down the wharf. "C'mon, let's just get this over with."

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

The lynx lead her teammate to the changing room complex before the beach front, this time shooing the crazy old Aquan away before she could start her spiel. Afterwards, the girls walked down the steps to the beach and hid on the sand dunes beneath the boardwalk. While Fay sat higher up on the dunes, her knees pulled close to her chest, Miyu sat closer to the lake, bathing her feet in the gently rising and receding water. They were completely alone in their removed place, only disturbed by the occasional pedestrian walking overhead and the crabs timidly poking their beady black eyes from their holes.

"So Miyu..." Fay began, uncertainty in her voice. "What's going on with you?"

Miyu was quiet for a moment, thinking carefully as she allowed the timid waves and cawing seagulls to fill her silence.

"What's happened in the last 24 hours?" she finally asked.

Fay hummed to herself. "We were docked on Orbital Station Basilica. We got a lead on Black Mamba, set out for Bayoon, and formulated a plan to incapacitate her ship. You distracted her while I snuck up on her. I managed to blast open her cargo hold, and you snatched everything that fell out. Mamba's ship failed, so she probably landed somewhere in the swamp. You went to sleep while I guided the _Sveno_ here, and as soon as we landed I woke you up. Why, you don't remember any of that? Do you have amnesia?"

" _Somehow I feel like_ you're _the one with amnesia,"_ the lynx muttered to herself. "Just... just checking. Fay, I feel like I've _lived_ this day before. I know I've never been to Badwash in my life, yet I've seen it once before. Like, I had this dream—well, I know for damn certain it wasn't a dream, but for your sake let's say that's all it was—I had this dream that we landed on this exact dock and met those exact people. They charged 20 credits and warned us the locals are wary of strangers. Then we found that same restroom and some crazy old hag kept screaming something about us being the chosen ones, or some similar horseshit. After that we scoured the town for Black Mamba, but couldn't find a trace of her."

"Do you think you've been here before? Maybe saw some survivalist show here and it looked familiar?"

"No," Miyu shook her head, gently kicking her feet in the water, "I've never been anywhere on Bayoon before. And the only time I've been to Aquas was during that one mission while Cira was still on the team. Our last... And no, I've never seen any survivalist shows that take place here, though it's funny you should mention that."

"Funny? Why?"

"Fay... what if I told you Stephen Gills was here, in Badwash Harbor?"

"Stephen Gills? I love his show! _Bear vs Wild_ is one of my favorites! And you're right, I had _Bayoon Bushcraft_ in mind when I asked that question. So he's here? How do you know?! You used that celebrity tracking app StarStalker, didn't you?"

"No, because we met him, together! And he let us be in his show for _Bayoon Bushcraft: Season II,_ or whatever it was called. And we all went out looking in the swamp for Black Mamba and other pirates together, and we piloted these airboats with giant fans and raced across the marshes, and..."

The feline trailed off when she noticed Fay fixing her with a skeptical look, biting her lip.

"You um, don't believe me, do you?"

"Did you fall asleep watching the first season?" Fay asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because it seems an awful lot like you dreamed this."

"No, I just listened to some music to fall asleep. I don't even like Stephen Gills or his survivalist show. Did you know the cameraman can do everything he does, but with only one hand? And he's not even given any credit or recognition. The poor man's been so used to staying silent while filming he's nearly forgotten how to talk!"

For a second, Fay lost her skeptical expression, but it slowly crept back again. "So what happened next? What happened before you woke up? —I mean, before you found yourself back in your ship?"

Miyu's demeanor soured, and she turned away from Fay to face the lake. The sunlight filtered in through the cracks, glistening off the lapping, sea-green waves and reflecting onto the undersides of the boards above them. The glowing water and reflections were a pretty sight—but in Miyu's eyes a particularly horrific one.

"That's when you died."

Fay was quiet for a moment, trying to be understanding. But she couldn't hold back a snort. "Well, then it's obviously a dream. I'm right here, aren't I?"

Miyu looked back to see Fay beaming at her, confident she'd won the argument and that Miyu had no more reason to despair.

"Come on, in what bizarre, surreal way did I meet my fate?" Fay egged her on, smiling.

"You—" Miyu cut herself off, realizing how ridiculous her story had sounded so far, and how ridiculous her answer was going to sound. "You were... eaten... by a... swamp monster?"

Fay burst out laughing—normally a pleasant sound to Miyu's ears, but not when she was the butt end of it. She pounded the sand with her clenched paw, sending the crabs scurrying back into their holes. "Oh my gaaawd! I was eaten by a _swamp monster!_ I bet it looked like a guy in a rubber suit from one of those black and white monster movies, and you can see the string holding up his tail!"

"Fay, this is serious!" Miyu chastised her, a little more aggressive than she had intended. Fay's laughs immediately died down, and the mirthful look on her face dropped.

"Miyu, you're overreacting. You had a long day yesterday, and you clearly need more sleep. You just had some intensely bad dreams after that dogfight with Cira. Or, if you really _do_ believe all that stuff happened... I think you need to get psychiatric help."

Lowering her voice to avoid coming off as unhinged, Miyu said, "Yes Fay, I really do believe this stuff happened. It's so clear in my mind: a complete narrative from start to finish. I remember so many little details, like how it felt to operate an airboat, or the crashed pilots' names—Alistair Ramson, and I think Basil something... I remember eating po' boy sandwiches and how good they tasted. I remember the struggle of holding my breath after being dumped in the water, I remember being sapped of strength from running so much... and most of all, I remember the pain the monster inflicted on me. No, all of those experiences were real, beyond a doubt. The only thing that would make sense is if someone carried us back here after I blacked out, and you just had amnesia. But then... where did our wounds go?"

Miyu patted her face, trying to locate the scars from the creature's attack. She instinctively winced, but didn't feel any sharp jabs of pain. Confused, she leaned forward and studied her reflection in the water.

Nothing: no red marks across her face.

"Fay, are there any claw wounds on my face?"

Fay pursued her lips and scanned Miyu's face, her eyes darting over her features intensively. "No, there's nothing there. You look perfectly fine. Kinda pretty, actually, but you always—HEY!"

Without asking permission, Miyu lifted Fay's shirt up, exposing her fuzzy underbelly.

"Wh-what are you doing?!"

Miyu let her shirt drop back into place. "You don't have any wounds either... weird. The last time I saw you, that beast had literally torn into your..." Miyu trailed off, closing her eyes and shivering at the unwanted recollection.

"Miyu, this can't be real. You've seen the proof."

"Then how did I know what the docking price would be? Or that the bathrooms were between the wharf and the beach?"

"Lucky guesses?" Fay countered. "You looked those up beforehand?"

"But... but I could show you where Stephen Gills is right now! _The_ Stephen Gills!"

"You could've snuck a glance at StarStalker when I wasn't looking. Uh-uh, that doesn't fly."

Miyu growled and clenched a ball of sand with her paw. She got another idea.

"What if I could tell you where the pirates are hiding?"

"I'm sorry? What pirates?"

Miyu grinned. "Exactly. If I could show you the location of a group of pirates that have no business being here in the first place, you have to believe me."

"Well... I guess," Fay pouted. "It still sounds pretty ridiculous."

"Right. But if you play along, you'll see the truth. I'm just glad we're still alive somehow—and that probably means Si and Stephen are, too."

"Wait, Stephen Gills died in your dream?" Fay asked. "How? Was he wrestling a crocodile? Swimming with sharks? Crawling through a cobra's den?"

Miyu thought about telling Fay Stephen's true death at the hands of the pirates, but she reasoned against it.

"Choked on a piece of bark."

"Oh," Fay said, disappointed. She nodded. "I could see that. So... what's your plan to find Cira, or these pirates?"

"I'll bet Mamba's with those pirates when we find them," Miyu wagered. "Yesterday—or today, I guess... or never—we teamed up with Stephen's film crew and the local forest rangers to explore the marsh. We found the pirates hiding out at a place called... oh, what was it? Oh yeah, west of Creeper's Rock. Problem is, they spotted us and hunted us down, and Stephen and Simon died."

"Simon? Who's Simon?"

Miyu stared at Fay with wide eyes. "You don't even know who _Simon_ is?"

Fay raised her paws defensively. "No, I wasn't in that dream of yours, or whatever it was!"

"Simon is Stephen's cameraman! The show wouldn't even exist without someone of his skill, personal bravery, and moral bearing!"

"Well, he might be in the credits..."

Miyu sighed and hid her face in her hand. "Alright, moving on. Last time we tried to take the pirates head on there were too many of them, and the rangers aren't really equipped for armed conflicts of this scale. We could show them to Creeper's Rock, prove the pirates are out there, and get them to call in the Cornerians or the Aquan Provisional force, but we might get discovered like last time. I think we'd be better off going to Creeper's Rock alone, spying on them, learning what we can, maybe document some evidence, and returning with our findings to the local authorities. If we go out alone, there's less chance the forest rangers or the film crew will screw things up, and if we want to we can follow the pirates around until they find Black Mamba, if she isn't with them already. In fact, maybe we'll get lucky and find an opening to steal the necklace back. Then we won't even have to fight Mamba or the pirates for it."

Fay nodded excitedly. "Yeah, I like that idea! That way we don't have to hurt Cira. But tell me, do you think the events in your dream will play out the same way again? I mean, do you think Stephen and the rangers will go out and mess things up before we can get there?"

"Oh, you're right. I never thought about that..." Miyu paused a moment to think things through, once again becoming lost in the rippling waves. "When we first got here, we spent a lot of time wandering around the harbor, searching for Mamba when she's clearly hiding somewhere. If we hitch a ride directly to the marsh, that'll save us a lot of time—and we're cutting out the introduction to Stephen, and waiting around to finish breakfast. And we know exactly where the pirates' hideout is, so we won't waste time looking for it. Yeah, that'll give us plenty of time to do some reconnaissance and return soon enough to warn Stephen and the rangers. I think I'm liking this plan more and more."

Miyu slipped her feet out of the water, wiped them dry, and replaced her boots. After standing up she marched towards the stairs, but noticed Fay wasn't following.

"Fay, what's the matter?"

The spaniel looked down. "Oh..." She squirmed a bit in discomfort. "I just don't know if I honestly believe you, Miyu. I mean you've never lied to me before... unless it was for my own good—"

 _Ouch._

"—But given the circumstances, that story is pretty... out there."

Miyu let out an exasperated sigh. "So, you got a better plan, huh? Is that it?"

"Well no, I—"

"Then if you got nothing better to do, you might as well follow me. If the pirate hideout _is_ there, you better believe me—that I'm not just trolling you for fun. Which I admit I have done in the past, but I'd never do it with a mission as serious as this. Now come on; let's prove I'm not insane together."

Fay looked up at Miyu and found she couldn't resist her offer. She slid off the sand dune, wiped the sand from her pants and tail, and followed after the lynx on her wild goose chase.

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

An hour later found the Katinese and Cornerian mercenaries bouncing up and down on the back of a rusted pickup truck, holding onto each other for dear life. Rather than run back to their ships, fly to the marsh, and land on questionable terrain—where anything could happen to their precious babies—Miyu suggested they hitch a ride with one of the locals. They waited on the western edge of town, exercised their thumbs and aesthetic charm, and were passed by Aquan after Aquan until a Cornerian expat happened to stop. He let them ride in the back of his pickup truck as far as the marsh docks.

The red truck clunked and sputtered over the next hill, and Miyu identified the gravel parking lot and wooden dock that bordered the placid, fermenting water. She tapped Fay's shoulder, nodded in the direction of the wharf, then thumped on the back of the truck to alert their driver. The hitchhikers slipped off the back, landing in a billowing cloud of dust on the dirt road. Their canine driver waved a friendly paw back to them, but otherwise kept going. Miyu and Fay left the barren country road, then strolled easily down the side of the hill and onto the dock.

"How're we doing on time?" Fay asked.

Miyu glanced about the dock, but only spotted one or two forest rangers there—they had only just now started congregating, and these were the earliest of the force. A sizable number of boats were also absent from the dock; the rangers probably brought their own as they came. It would be a few hours before they started their fateful reconnaissance mission.

"We're doing fine," Miyu answered. "Way ahead of them. Now, time for step two; rent a boat."

Miyu's confident smile slowly fell into a frown as she helplessly scanned up and down the wharf. There wasn't exactly a building on the waterfront advertising a "buy-one-get-one-free" sale for airboats. No loan shark stood around in a bright, tacky Aquan shirt ready to pawn a used boat running on sawdust and prayers to the unsuspecting tourist, either. There were some families on recreational fishing trips, the early bird rangers who also held fishing poles, and a group of elderly Aquans on the far side of the dock, going—you guessed it—fishing. Besides the festival, for the life of her Miyu couldn't figure out what anyone would do in Badwash _besides_ fishing. Not that she wasn't fond of fishing; she had many pleasant memories of outings with her father.

Fay sidled up to her, fixing her with raised eyebrows and a coy expression. "I thought you said you've been here before. You know, in your dream?"

"It wasn't a dream," Miyu reaffirmed, "and I _have_ been here before. I just didn't have to go through the trouble of buying a boat. The rangers brought their own."

"Maybe you could ask one of these people here to lend us one—if there isn't a store," Fay suggested.

"I guess..." Miyu scratched her tufted ears, glancing between the pair of rangers, the families on their outings, and the gathering of older Aquans. In the end, she chose the Aquans, reasoning there would be a higher chance of finding a spare boat among them.

"Come on, let's see if they have one they're willing to rent," Miyu indicated to the group.

Fay followed her over to the army of Aquans, who took up the far side of the wharf. The fishing party was mostly made up of amphibians: frogs of different green shades, wart-covered toads, slick but dumpy-looking salamanders (much less threatening-looking than native Venomians), a translucent white olm, but also a turtle and a St. Bernard, the latter of which was already fishing off the side of the wharf. They were all getting on in years; none of them looked younger than sixty. Even for amphibians they looked wrinkly, with perpetual smiles or frowns etched into their faces. Their eyebrows, beards, mustaches, and receding hairlines were graying or already white.

The girls approached, hearing the elders discuss certain aquatic sport topics as they readied their gear. The conversations shared by shaking, rusty voices stopped one by one as each of the Aquans slowly noticed their presence. Miyu felt like a bug under the microscope as their combined focus fell on her, but she pressed on anyway, weighing their need for a boat over her present discomfort.

The elders fell completely silent by the time the girls reached their fishing enclave. Fay decided to speak first, given she had a less threatening disposition. She cleared her throat, not speaking to anyone in particular.

"I—that is, _we_ were wondering if any of you gentlemen had a boat we could rent?"

The amphibians' normally bugged out eyes narrowed to golden slits, observing the girls in distrust. One of the frogs—a red-skinned Goliath frog—turned to face them, his blubbery stomach swinging around in a delayed fashion. Once the stomach caught up with the rest of him, he puffed the white skin out until it looked like he'd burst his blue suspenders. He stared down his nose at the mercenaries, which made them feel even more uncomfortable.

He finally spoke with a scratchy croak. "And why should we help _you'uns_?"

"Because we're willing to pay?" Fay ventured.

The frog closed his eyes and shook his head, resting his hands on his suspender straps. He began to pluck one, which was so high-strung it made the sound of a jaw harp. "I ain't a fixin' to lend no boat to no off-worlders, ya hear? I ain't a lettin' no entitled Cornerian womun an' no Katinese womun kiss'n up to her e'en _tich_ my boat. You'uns hear?"

"And the same goes fer the _rest_ of us," another frog resolutely stated, nodding his head.

Miyu clenched her fists. She was used to Katinese-oriented slurs for her people too readily integrating with Corneria, and often found herself mistaken for Fay's bodyguard. It didn't help that Fay brought most of the funds to their group.

The feline stepped between Fay and the Aquans. "Listen you old geezer, I want none of your talking down to us. We're hunting a criminal who stole some of _your_ people's artifacts, and we need a boat to catch them."

"Hah," the red frog nearly burped, "so youse can take 'em back to a museum on Co'neria for those dogs to gawk at and call us savages! Or for _her_ private fer-place mantle in her coochy manshun?"

The other amphibians all croaked and bobbed their heads in a syncopated-rythm.

"Now off with ya," the Goliath frog ordered, "I don't wanna see youse snoopin' 'round Mulaboo Marsh again!"

Before Miyu could argue anymore, an orange-colored salamander raised a shaking claw. In a bubbly voice—not Fay's bubbly way of talking, but sounding like he actually had a stew bubbling in his throat—the old salamander said, "I don't trust neither of youse more 'an I could throw you back to yer own planets. Cornerian culture is poisoning the rest of the Lylat. You Katinese are dyin' too—ya just don't know it. Sure, you may be smart and techno-lo-logically superior, but youse have fallen back on yer wicked ways. Yer "modern" art is snake shite, yer telo-vision shows are nothing but alters to vio-lence, sex, and the profane-ity, an' yer child folk are rebellious. With yer cultural pro-po-gander, yer destroyin' the family unit and the old ways of doin' thangs. I try an' watch me some _Contemporary Family_ on my tele-box, and those guys are some funnah fellas, crackin' the jokes and a hurtin' theyselves, but the next thang I know they's a kissin' each-udda! Grown men, slobbering over each-udda! An' it ain't ta be funnah; youse can't joke about the queers no mores. Why I'll betchu youse girls are goin' an' kissin' behind our backs! Yessir, goin' off into da swamp and committing vile deeds togetha! No personal conviction, no righteous sense o' morals, nothan ta tell you it's _wrong_ fer a woman an a woman ta love one another, or a man an' a man ta love one another, or to sodomize ya-selves, or for two Lylatians of differunt species to love another—yas _especially_ youse cats an' dogs, with yer lickin' and slobberin' tongues—and nothan ta tell you to get hitched before ya go at each-udda. Why I didn't fight in tha War for these folks ta go about in our towns neckin'! It's disgustin', downright _disgustin',_ to see what the next generation of the Lylat has a come to!"

"Amen!"

"Amen, Horace!"

"Well said!"

"Gosh darn it I feel you!"

Horace shrugged. "'Course I need money for mah meds, so I'll take that offer any-a-way."

The red frog was taken aback. "Tarnation Horace, what's that youse sayin'? You ain't fixin' to collab-bor-rate with these sin-lovin' witches? We fought the _War_ ageenst their kind! Why I fought 'longside Captain Springfoot at the Battle of Gambogee Hill, and my pappy Elrod Fletcher fought 'longside Sergeant Peeper at the Clash of Apricot Gorge, and _his_ pappy Delmont Fletcher fought 'longside Colonel Cricket at the Sortie of Chartreuse Creek!"

Gruff, thoughtful voices resounded with "hear-hear"s and at least one "remember Gambogee Hill!"

"Well what about that Cornerian over there?" Miyu asked, indicating the St Bernard, who was currently fishing off the side of the wharf. "He obviously fought alongside you too!"

"That is true, Amos," the olm squeaked to the red frog. "Eddie also fought for us at Gambogee Hill."

"He may be Cornerian," a pink salamander hissed, "but _he_ don't know that. Gambogee Hill left Eddie deaf, blind, and with an acute case of ama-nee-zee-uh. Eddie thinks he's an amphibian just like the rest of us."

"That's right, just look at the pur old dog. Pur Eddie thinks it's time to fish now. Don't even know we're still on the wharf."

Realizing the oblivious canine had his rod out over the marsh, Amos the red frog shouted, "Eddie, _GIT_ yer line back in here this instant. Yer insulting dem fishes!"

A bearded turtle wearing a bucket hat and a crooked grin somewhere between high and just plain old suddenly snapped his jaw shut, eyes widening and looking around. "Oh, is it time for fishing?" he said in a creaky, painfully slow drawl. Before Amos could stop him, he plopped down next to Eddie, whirled his line around (catching a frog's hat with the hook in the process), and executed a superb cast straight into a clump of reeds. In response Amos just tiredly rubbed at the forehead skin between his eyes.

"Eddie's an exception," the pink salamander continued. "You see, I fought against the off-worlders at the Battle of Gambogee Hill as well, and my father Luther Bradshaw fought alongside Ensign Hopper at the Altercation of Khaki Cove, and his father Bartholomew Bradshaw fought alongside Lieutenant Webclaw at the Tussle of Topaz Turn. Many off-worlders spilled our blood that day, and we spilled much of theirs."

"Aye, that we did."

"Death to the off-worlders!"

"Remember Gambogee Hill!"

"Now hold it there, Lee," a camo-wearing toad warned. "You know gosh-durn well the Cornerians helped us fend off them pie-ruts! Why I fought with the rest ah you when wese was soljahs, an' mah daddy Aesop Sunderban fought wit Rear Admiral Spadefoot in the Fracas of Mustard Flats, and his daddy Nicodemus Sunderban fought with Staff Sergeant Horneye at the Kerfuffle of Lemon-grass Ford. An' we seen _lotsa_ canines a helpin' us kick dah pie-rut's arses. Axe any one of us, and we'll tell ya youse can always rely on a Cornerian ter have yer back! Those uns are loyal to the end."

"He's gotta point there."

"True, true."

"Gambogee Hill!" —even though the toad hadn't invoked its name.

"Well that there's a testament to the _dogs_ ," a brown and green-speckled Pac-Man frog responded, "But what about the _cats_? I like many o' you I fought and was wounded at Gambogee, and my father Diomedes Weatherspoon fought under Brigadier General Bulgethroat at the Skirmish of Saffron Sound, an' his father Agamemnon Weatherspoon fought under Chief Warrant Officer Snoutslime at the Assault on Arylide Arch, and if there was one thing we learned it was to _never_ trust those felines. Most of the cats were fighting on the _Pirates'_ side, and for the Katinese provisionals fighting for Corneria, the first sign of danger they'd ah turn tail an' run, leavin' yuh with yuh trousers down."

"Amen!"

"Nope, can't trust 'em."

"Mighty scared o' water, too."

"Remember—"

"Whoa, hold yer combustion engine Roy," Horace the dumpy orange salamander interjected. "Yer forgettin' that _I_ took part in the battle of the Hill as well. I was there with the rest o' you. And my pop Euripides Calhoun fought alongside Master Gunnery Sergeant Dengue at the Carnage of Canary Canyon, and his pop Aristophanes Calhoun fought with Command Sergeant Major Salmonella at the Massacre of Amarillo Mountain. We fought along the whisker-lickers and counted many of them as our good friends! Nevermind they were influenced by the Cornerian's wicked—"

A rumbling croak resounded from the back of the group, and all eyes turned to a South African rain frog that was probably older than the residents of Badwash even in the grave. He drew in a deep breath of air like a puffer-fish, until Miyu thought the slightest breath of wind or even a sneeze in his direction would blow him away. His eyes squeezed shut, his limbs could no longer touch the ground, and his mouth was closed so tightly that when he spoke it was more of a volcanic rumble than anything else.

"I, Jehoshaphat Hildebrand, also fought and bled at the Battle of the Gambogee Hill, like my father Zebulon Hildebrand, who fought under the leadership of Sergeant Major of the Army Pusgland at the Rape of Citrine City, just like his father Bucephelus Hildebrand, who fought under the leadership of Command Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy and the Coast Guard, Wartybum, at the Genocide of Goldenrod Gulch. And I'll be _damned_ to turnation if one of my close comrades let's an off-worlder so much as cast an askance glance at his vehiminical"

"Hey Asa, you got a bite!"

It took the turtle a few seconds before he noticed his line jerking from the bush. Whatever Asa had inadvertently caught was struggling to get free, and the violent motions scared the turtle into his shell. His head snapped back into his shoulders, the rim of his shell pushing his hat clear off. His arms, legs, and tail all retracted as well, until nothing besides his brown and orange-patterned shell was visible. He teetered on the edge of the dock for a few tense seconds before tipping over into the marsh, creating the largest cannonball splash Miyu had ever been beholden to.

"Quick, we gotta save him!" Lee the pink salamander exclaimed.

Amos the red frog waved a dismissive hand. "Aw leave 'im be. Asa's a turtle. Turtle's kin swee-um. He'll be fine."

"Asa's a box turtle, ya ijit!" Lee countered. "He'll sink like a murderer weighed down with a millstone!"

Amos' eyes widened. "Shet! Come on boys, wese gotta save Asa furm drownin'!"

There was a mad scramble amongst the Aquans, who huddled around the edge of the wharf, jumping up and down or diving into the water to bring Asa to the surface. All except Eddie, who as aforementioned was blind and deaf and just kinda sat there, thinking he was holding one end of a jump rope for some young Aquans.

Amidst all the chaos, Horace slipped away to Fay and Miyu.

"Quick, while they're distracted! It'll cost ya 40 credits to rent my bike for a day."

"40 credits?!" Miyu exclaimed.

"It's a beauty of a bike," the orange salamander countered. "Just look at it!" He pointed to a silver, rust-covered levibike that floated in place on the wharf a few yards down. "Justice Mk. III," he stated proudly, "and you won't find many o' those around these parts, neither! Smoother than a greased-up airboat, she is. Name's Thelma-Lou—that's what I call 'er. Handles well, engine soft as spun moss, and can get up ta ten feet o' lift."

"Aren't they on the Mk. 8 series now?" Miyu sneered.

Fay was more placating. "Okay, we'll take it!"

She brought her credit bank next to Horace's and transferred 40 credits over. In celebration Horace exclaimed, "Hyuk hyuk hyuk! Now I gotta go inta town and get me sum more o' dat medy-sun!" He tossed Miyu the keys and turned to run back to his jeep with pure abandon. "You have that thing back by tomorrow, ya hear? I'll be waitin'!"

Miyu waved after him. "Oh we will! Seeya 'round, Horace! Ha ha... great guy, that Horace."

"We're not going to bring the bike back tomorrow, are we?"

"Huhhh... probably not," Miyu agreed. "Come on, let's get going."

The condition of the levibike was even worse up close than from afar, but it would have to do. Miyu had ridden similar bikes in neighborhood races on Katina, so she assumed she could handle the craft just fine. As the Aquans hauled a floundering Asa out of the water, the lynx mounted the levibike, which swayed under her weight a bit before evening out. Fay got on next, having to sit behind Miyu on a small cargo platform. She wrapped her arms around the feline's torso and whimpered, "Don't go too fast now, okay?"

Miyu stuck the key in the ignition and turned it. The main thrusters noisily spluttered to life before the suppressor pads kicked in and dampened the sound to quieter levels. She pressed her foot down on the accelerator and eased off the wharf. The levibike dipped nose-first off the dock before Fay's end followed and the bike leveled out over the reflective water.

"You... you won't go fast, right? Right?!" The pitch of Fay's voice desperately increased.

Miyu grinned over her shoulder evilly before mashing her foot on the accelerator pad, and a black cloud of smoke exploded from behind the bike before it rocketed forward. Fay screamed and nearly strangled the guts from Miyu's torso as they sped away over the marsh.

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

A pantheress walked down a painfully white hallway; her black fur and garb the only source of shadow to be found in the corridor. Her boots sent hollow thumps echoing down its length, highlighting how empty it was. No one else was here in transit. They were all at work.

At the center of the hallway she paused, turning towards a broad pair of automated doors. The containment gates stretched from floor to ceiling, with thin plexiglass windows in either half. She tried to make out what lay behind the glass, but could only observe a thick, swirling mist.

Footsteps from the other side of the hall. She didn't turn to hail their creator, instead locking her gaze onto the billowing, hypnotizing clouds.

"What's the matter, Cira?" the newcomer crooned in a smokey, tenor voice. "You look rather tense; come 'ere girl, let Gladys give those stiff shoulders a working-over."

The panther slightly changed the direction of her eyes to focus on the reflection in the windows, and not the steam behind them. An extravagantly decorated pirate reflected back at her, standing at her side: Captain Gladys, the highest ranking, most powerful, and most dangerous outlaw in the Lylat. And ...she(?) wanted to give her a back rub.

"I'm fine, thank y—"

But Gladys ignored her protests. She stepped behind Cira, massaging her shoulders anyway.

"Ooh, you've got some knots worked up. I can tell you haven't had one of these in a long while, little lady."

The stoat stood a head taller than Cira. Her fur was a maroon red pelt with a creamy underbelly, revealed in more places than the pantheress cared to see. Gladys wore an open kimono; the hem, droopy sleeve cuffs, and neckline of which were lined with feathers. A long loincloth hung beneath her bare midriff, stretching all the way down to her designer boots. She wore an array of jewelry—necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets, and the like—and on her head sat a gaudy headdress made from more brightly-colored feathers and nondescript bones—the only part of her outfit that Cira was jealous of. Beneath the kimono a loose vest covered her chest... _his_ chest—and this is where the pronouns begin to get more tricky. The mostly open vest covered well-toned but noticeably rock-flat pecks. Though it was obvious what sex the Captain was, his physical appearance, vocal presentation, outfit, and character all argued the opposite.

When the crew asked what Gladys' proffered pronouns were, the response was always, "Just Captain, sugar-plum." Those who kept using masculine pronouns, however, often found themselves floating outside the airlock—especially inconvenient without a helmet.

"You know I don't envy you honey-muffin," Gladys continued, much to Cira's chagrin. "You really must have made the Doctor angry for him to summon you here. He doesn't normally drop his work just to dole out a standard rebuking, you see."

"I see you're here as well," Cira retorted, only barely tolerating the back rub and Gladys' presence in general.

The Captain laughed a deep but sweat-flavored laugh. "I'm not too worried. _I_ didn't drop a case of artifacts and get my prize ship shot up."

Before Cira could respond a shadow appeared behind the containment doors, and a chime sounded. The gates slid open with a hiss, letting a cloud of steam and one hazmat-suited figure escape. The chime sounded again, and the doors resealed, cutting off the cloud of fog and sending it into swirling eddies. The figure wearing the yellow plastic suit reached for his helmet, which he removed after undoing a few latches. With the headpiece and gloves removed, the Doctor ran his fingers through his tall tuft of hair.

"Captain Gladys, Cira; thank you for coming. I'll make this brief...

"I know the future."

Gladys hummed, resting her head on her hand. "Hmm, and I can see your future too, Doctor Dapper. I see a a romantic candlelight dinner with a particular firebrand scientist, no?"

"You're joking," Cira flatly responded to the Doctor.

"I'm not sure why, but I can recall the events of the _next_ six hours. We observed the lynx with a drone, witnessed a carrier attack her... yet upon her death, I found myself back in the lab, six hours earlier. You... you didn't see her death, did you?"

Both the pantheress and stoat shook their heads.

"Can your prove you witnessed the future?" Cira asked in a no-nonsense manner. Given the Doctor's track record, it was entirely possible.

"I can, and I did. I accurately predicted the results of twelve chemical exposures using knowledge I accrued in my future lab time. The research is now ahead of schedule... though I had some difficulty convincing the other scientists I was clairvoyant and not just impeccably intelligent." At this point the scientist reached under the hem of his yellow suit and began to fiddle with something around his neck. This action seemed to inspire him.

"Ms. Cortez... is it possible your assailants could have retrieved the artifacts after you dropped them?"

Cira glanced sideways at Gladys, who smiled, _I told you so,_ at her. Looking back at the Doctor, she answered, "I think it's unlikely. The _Evryali_ was over the swamp when they blew the crate from my cargo hold. If the crate wasn't destroyed in the initial blast, it most likely burned up on the way down. If not, the crate would have shattered on impact, scattering what fragments were left. Even if it landed in a body of water or in some brush, leaving it retrievable, they wouldn't have more chance than finding a needle in a haystack."

The scientist continued picking at whatever it was that sat beneath the hazmat suit. "What model of ships were they flying?"

"Katinese interceptors," Cira replied. "I see where you're going. You want to know if it was possible for the ships to catch the crate mid-flight?" After receiving a nod, she continued, "Yes, the interceptors have that capability. Although highly unlikely, it is possible the lynx caught the crate before it was destroyed."

The Doctor's eyes focused on a far away place between both Cira and Gladys. His orders came after a few more seconds of pensive thought.

"Dispatch the drone again. Head for Creeper's Rock in Mulaboo Marsh. We shall once again observe Miyu Tsukikage and track her efforts to locate us. Send word to any pirates in the area to search for her."

"What shall I have them do when they find her?" Gladys asked.

Andross slowly lifted a hand-shaped shell amulet from beneath his suit, studying it.

"Separate her from the pendent... and kill her."


	5. Pirate's Progress

**Chapter 5:** **Pirate's Progress**

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)✹◯

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The mercenaries were bound for a better time than Stephen's run to the pirate outpost. Without having to search aimlessly around the marsh, and with the levibike's ability to float over obstacles, they could speed directly to the shanty boat.

"You sure you know where you're going?" Fay asked with a raised voice. While the suppressor pads dampened the levicoils and thrusters, she still had to speak through the rushing wind.

"Like I said, I've been here before!" Miyu shouted back. "It's just west of Creeper's Rock."

"If you say—" The bike bounced over a falling log, cutting Fay short. The seat of her shorts rose several inches off the levibike before slamming back down when they descended. "Oof!"

An idea struck Miyu. "Hey, you still don't believe that I've been here before, do you?"

"Not really, no. You'll have to admit the idea is a bit... out there."

"What happens if I'm able to predict the location of that pirate base?"

Fay thought for a moment before arriving to an unpleasant conclusion that wrinkled her nose. "I don't like that. That would be _too_ creepy!"

Miyu glanced over her shoulder each time she spoke to Fay. "But what if I could?"

"I don't know, I guess I'd... have to believe you at that point."

The lynx turned back around to face the front, smiling like she had already won. She leaned over the handgrips like a jockey, and mashed the accelerator even harder. Maybe now she could convince Fay she wasn't a raving lunatic.

"Of course, it could still just be luck," Fay mumbled.

"ARRRGH!"

But within the next few minutes Miyu had to stay silent and ease off the fuel. They had come upon Creeper's Rock; it looked more like a large boulder that had been split in two halves, staring open-mawed at the sky above. The formation was pock-marked with small, perfectly circular craters, and the nearby water was interrupted by rocky protrusions encircling the stone like shock waves. Miyu briefly wondered how such a strange stone could have ended up at the edge of the marsh, or how it had earned the name "Creeper's Rock" among the locals... but then she remembered she didn't care.

They drifted on fumes and the pure hovering capabilities of the craft to glide west of the rock. Miyu once again recognized the landscape from before. In no time at all they carried to the same sand and brush bank that overlooked the shanty house. Now that they reached the outpost with several hours before eclipse to spare, the girls found it easier to observe the rickshaw craft.

They dismounted the Justice and lay belly-first on the sand, peeking through the bushes at the holdout.

"Told ya," Miyu giggled triumphantly.

"Oh my god..." Fay breathed. "How in Lylat did you know that was going to be there?"

"Call it what you like—dream, vision, prophecy, time-travel; it doesn't change the fact that I predicted the location of a hidden pirate base. Attribute _that_ to StarStalker!"

"No! That's just not possible! There's no _way_ you could have predicted its location! This is unheard of! ESP is bologna, and everyone knows it. With that kind of power, you could become an EwTube star, you could go on talk shows, give Teddy Bear Talks, win the lottery! Why are we even here? We could be making _billions_ that way! ...Though honestly I don't care about the money, or I wouldn't be here right now."

"I love how your first instinct is to make me a celebrity," Miyu pointed out, chuckling.

"As opposed to what?"

"Ha. Like predicting crimes, war, natural disasters. Earning money to give to charity, fixing the economy, world peace—that sorta thing."

Fay paused for a moment. "Oh, right, I forgot about those. But you could become famous at the same time, too."

Miyu smiled, envisioning combinations of all the different possibilities they just brainstormed. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind that too much. I bet we could become the best merces in Lylat if we played this right."

Fay pointed at the top floor of the shanty boat. "So, why don't you try it out right now? Tell me how many pirates are holed-up in there."

Miyu opened her mouth to answer, but realized she couldn't. "I... don't know. It doesn't work like that. I don't have X-ray vision or anything. It's like... suddenly having memories of the future, I guess."

"Then try predicting what will happen if we charge in there right now, guns blazing. Bam-Bam-BAM!"

"It uh, doesn't work like that either, Fay."

"Then what do you have to doOoOo?" the spaniel asked, now becoming frustrated. "Do you have to act like you're _going_ to do something to get the premonitions? Like if we got up with the _intent_ of barging in there, will that trick it into giving you visions beforehand?"

Miyu pursed her lips, once again realizing what a stew of unanswered questions her life had recently become. "I'm sorry, it just doesn't work like that. I've only got this vision thing once, and it was after everyone I know and love died. And I don't exactly want to repeat those circumstances, if you catch my drift. There's no way of controlling these memories. There's not even a guarantee that it'll happen again. I think we should just go in, make use of the fortunate information we _do_ have, and act like nothing different happened. Then, maybe when we're done, we can go back and sort out what the hell went down. You up for that?"

Fay sighed a thick breath of disappointment. "Yeah, I'm ready—wait, I see someone moving!"

While it was bright daylight, this time around neither Miyu or Fay had binoculars. The lynx had to squint to see what her teammate saw. Sure enough, a Lylatian figure had exited the enclosed portion of the shanty boat. He walked out on the top porch, stretched, and climbed down the ladder to the bottom level. On his way down, Miyu once again noticed the sickening rack of drying frog skins, but at least Fay wouldn't be able to recognize them from this distance. The pirate walked to the edge of the raft, undid his pants, and unceremoniously relieved himself into the unfortunate marsh, whistling all the while. While he was mostly facing away from their hiding place, the girls blanched in disgust.

When he was finished, the pirate zipped his pants, climbed the ladder, and returned to the top enclosure, disappearing out of sight.

"I was just about to suggest we swim over there," Miyu groaned.

"Oh no, you can't make me—!"

"Get over it, Fay. Do you know how much whale pee makes up the ocean? The percentage is like... oh I forget, but you get my point. Just man up and follow me!"

The feline shrugged off her flight jacket and removed her boots, leaving herself in her short green shirt and black pants. Fay followed suit, tossing her jacket onto the back of the levibike and kicking off her flight boots.

"So we'll come back here if things go sour?" Fay asked.

"Exactly. Grab the Justice and circle around a bit for whoever gets left behind. If you can't save me on your own, let them capture me and beat it the hell back to town. Grab the rangers for backup."

"Miyu! I would never leave you like that!"

"Really? Oh... that's awkward. Because I was planning on doing the same to you."

Fay gaped slack-jawed at the lynx. "You know, sometimes you're hard to like!"

" _Sometimes?_ Guess I'll just have to try harder then," Miyu deadpanned. "Now come on, let's get our feet wet."

Miyu crawled over to the leftmost side of the small bank and slipped sideways into the water. The marsh was freezing as expected, but the muggy Bayoon day made the cold a welcomed respite to the hot weather. She sank until only her eyes and nose were above water before quietly swimming in the direction of the shanty boat. After her head start she heard Fay slide into the water as well, emitting a high-pitched, warbling moan at the encroachment of the cold liquid.

Short of breath and pulse racing, Miyu swam towards the enemy encampment. She was worried the shutters might fly open at any moment to reveal a wary pirate—scouring the marsh only to spot them. One out of place noise might cost them the whole mission. They could even have the misfortune of another pirate coming out to answer the call of the wild.

Her fears became reality when the screen door screeched open and slammed shut, releasing a drunken, staggering ferret onto the second-floor porch. Miyu took in a deep breath and dived beneath the surface, hoping Fay would keep her head and do the same. The felid risked opening her eyes, allowing the cold water to rush in, but eventually adjusting to the subaqua light. The water was a murky teal color, nearly transparent but slightly opaque. The sun's rays barely pierced through to the algae, dirt, and sand-covered bed below. The ominous shadow of the mobile house lay ahead, so Miyu pressed on in its direction.

Reaching the edge of the shadow, Miyu slowed, angled upwards, and allowed herself to surface. Her aching lungs demanded she gasp for air as soon as she broke the surface, but she managed to restrain the desire and not breath too loudly. She had come up under the wooden planks that extended off the side of the boat's hull, forming a mostly submerged cave just high enough for her head and neck to stay above water. Fay momentarily joined her, lifting her head above water with equal stealth. Now the feline and canine were both cramped tightly together, forced to tread water and hold onto the ship to stay afloat. There was enough sunlight reflecting off the marsh surface and seeping in between the wood planks to make out each others faces. Miyu was sure her teammate's face mirrored her own worried expression when a heavy weight crashed down the ladder, and staggering footfalls suddenly came in their direction.

They turned the act of breathing quietly into a competition, seeing who could better resist their lungs and make the least amount of noise with their breaths. They peered up beneath the wood slats at the ferret, only to see him stop right above them. The girls looked back at each other, waiting for the inevitable sound of pants unzipping and the stream of urine soon to follow—but none came.

Just as Fay fixed Miyu with a confused look, the pirate hurled his entire breakfast and liquor over the side of the boat. The vomit poured into the marsh, splashing dangerously in their direction. The girls backed up as close as they could to the boat's hull, Fay now sticking her tongue out in disgust. Miyu agreed; she didn't know which option was worse.

After retching a bit, the pirate took a few drunken steps away from them, followed by a loud _thud_ as he toppled over. In a few seconds, they could hear his snores.

Miyu jerked her head, indicating the edge of the planks. _"Sounds like he's down for the count,"_ she whispered. _"Let's go!"_

Leaving their hiding place beneath the lower deck, the teammates swam out from under the ship. They grabbed the floor of the boat and with some difficulty pulled themselves up, making sure not to disturb the water to an audible extent. They let their clothes drip out onto the deck, and Miyu located the drunken slob who nearly vomited on them. Sure enough, the wimp of a pirate who couldn't hold his grog was out stone cold on a picnic table. From the living quarters above, the girls could hear a chorus of raucous laughs, snorts, and angry shouts. It would be enough to mask their approach.

" _What now?"_ Fay asked.

" _We climb up,"_ Miyu answered, having formulated a plan in her head while they observed the outpost from afar. _"Let's get on the roof and look in through the shutters. Follow me."_

Miyu cautiously led the way to the ladder, but had only got her hands and foot on the first few rungs when Fay let out a little "Eep!" behind her. She turned to see what was the matter, then froze when she saw what had frightened Fay.

She had forgotten the frog skins!

The pirates had stretched the leathery hides across hastily constructed, square drying racks. There were three of them; the largest a bright green hue, the next a sky blue, and the third and by far the smallest a bright yellow. Each was splayed out to face the sun, through which they could see every detail of wart, vein, and trace of blood that had once flowed beneath.

Miyu was tempted to get sick again, pulling another "drunken pirate", but she set her mind on the trembling Fay.

"M-M-Miyu, th-those aren't—"

" _Shhh!"_ the lynx hissed. She grabbed Fay by the shoulders and forced her to the ladder. _"Keep moving! Just go, dammit!"_

Fay moved like a dead fish for a few seconds, then finally pried her eyes off the skins and clumsily ascended the ladder. Miyu followed close behind, prodding her all the way, until they momentarily reached the second story of the houseboat. But rather than entering the screened porch, Miyu hopped onto the railing and hoisted herself onto the roof. She gave Fay a hand up—noticing her paw was clammy and cold—and the two crawled over the wooden shingles to the shutters above the cabin. Lying on either side of the upward-facing window, they peeked in through the shutters.

The once homely cabin below was trashed beyond recognition. The kitchen was full of dirty or shattered dishes, the living space trashed with empty bottles and bags of gear, and the dinning table was covered in cards, game chips, and beer mugs. Six chairs were seated around the table, with one of them empty—probably belonging to the drunken bastard blacked out on the lower deck.

Miyu and Fay scanned the remaining five pirates for Black Mamba. What seemed to be the leader was a scaled, snout-nosed pangolin. The ridges on the back of his head were prosthetically extended and painted over, almost giving them a mo-hawk feel. That combined with the amount of gold he wore, the decorated pistol in his belt, and the way the others gave him ample space. All except the sole female in the group, who nearly sat in his lap. The leopard gecko was seated precariously on a stool, leaning back to rest against the uncomfortable side of the pangolin. The other three were a rowdy bunch made up of a shrew, a rat, and small anole—each with considerably less gear, flare, and bearing as the leader.

" _I don't see_ _Cira_ _,"_ Fay whispered.

" _Not from this angle, either. Maybe she's in another room, or out on patrol,"_ Miyu suggested. _"Plenty of watercraft missing from below."_

" _How do you know they're_ missing? _"_

Miyu ignored the question, observing the happenings below instead.

She looked back down just in time to see the leader catch the gecko stealing a look at his cards—which wasn't too hard since her head was leaned against his chest.

"Vetna, get your snooter out of my hand!" the pangolin rumbled in a playfull voice. It was clear that if any of the other pirates had done the same they would find themselves at the bottom of the marsh. "I didn't let you ride my dong all the way from Z Nebula just for you to cheat me in a game of darza!"

"I'm playing with your creds anyway," Vetna answered in a slithering voice. "Besides, if you hadn't picked me up after the battle that hand of yours woulda seen more action than I gave ya."

"Yeah Borro," the rat cackled, "Yer hand would be so tired of doing the work yourself ya wouldn't be able to hold yer cards! AHH—"

The rat ducked a second too late as a half-filled beer bottle sailed into his head. His pain became the subject of everyone's laughter, except for Borro, who just grinned in satisfaction.

"Please, don't mention Sector Z," the anole said, rubbing a patchwork of bandages on his chest. "It flares up whenever you utter that consonant."

"Whot? The letter Zed?" Vetna asked.

"ARRGH!" The anole fell off his chair, clutching at his wounds in pretend anguish.

As the anole hit the ground, the rat jumped back to his feet. He rubbed at the bump forming on his forehead. "Oi, I've had enough of you lot! I'm sick of being cooped up in this shithole! I've had lockers that were larger than this. And it's made of wood! _Wood!_ How primitive! They ain't even got a wavephone extension, much less a connection to the net! What did the dad do for porn? And what would possess someone to build a house on a boat?!"

"Quit complaining Iggy," the shrew sneered, laying down the winning hand of cards. "Would you rather your vaporized atoms be floating in a bright red 'Z' of electromagnetic radiation? I thought not."

"Easy for you to say!" the rat shot back. "Aziz cleaned toilets on commercial flights before joining the crew! I've had lockers larger than the spaces he's worked—oh I said that already, didn't I. Shit..."

Borro cleared his throat, which instantly drew his crew's attention. "Aziz is right. We haven't had communication with Captain Gladys in a week. This radio silence will be the death of me, and it's only a matter of time before a native croaker spots us and blows our cover. And I don't want to be corralled in with the rest of you anymore than you want to be stuck with me! Just throwing that out there."

A loud burp erupted from the deck below, signaling the ferret was now awake.

"That was beautiful, Gus," Vetna called down. "Serenade us some more."

Miyu had misjudged the height of the roof in relation to the front porch—a fact she found out the hard way. Gus the drunken ferret pulled himself with some difficulty up the ladder. When he reached the top he rose to his full height, opened his mouth to let forth another noxious belch, only to discover the girls halfway through. His burp caught and turned into an awkward hiccup-scream, which only minorly aroused the other pirates' worry. He staggered back to the railing, nearly flipping over the side as he pointed a shaking finger at Miyu and Fay. His lips flapped like a strip of paper taped to an A/C unit, but only half-formed syllables slurred out.

" _What do we do?!"_ Fay panicked.

The girls backed away from the side of the roof facing the top deck, but soon came up against the edge. Miyu quickly weighed their options. Winning a firefight was unlikely; they were outnumbered three-to-one. Escaping was even more unlikely; their levibike was still hidden among the bushes, and by the time they had swum halfway over the pirates would be on the deck putting blaster holes through their floating carcasses. Even if they made it back to their bike, the pirates had levicraft of their own and could easily run them down.

 _If you can't beat 'em..._

 _"Miyu, wh-what are you doing?"_

Miyu stood to her full height, balancing on the slanted roof. With a grunt she kicked in the shutters. She jumped through the window, landing on the floor with the rest of the wooden shards. Spreading her arms like a circus performer, she announced, "Surprise! You have a visitor." Then, when each pirate cocked and leveled a gun at her she closed her eyes and smiled to mask the sudden spurt of fear she felt.

"Where in Solar did you come from?!" Borro demanded. "How long have you been spying on us? Tell me, what did you hear?!"

"Vetna cheats at cards, you and Iggy are in an abusive relationship, and Gus can't hold his alcohol," Miyu said cheerily. There were very few people in the world Miyu would put on a smile for; mostly those who pointed weapons at her.

"Vetna!" Borro growled, "you cheat so sloppily even a Katinese wench can see it."

At that moment Gus burst in through the door, babbling too stutteringly fast to understand, but clearly pointing up at the roof.

"Yes Gus, we know about the woman from the roof," Borro said as he covered his face with his free palm.

"B-b-b-bu-but there's still another—!"

"Shut up Gus!" the pangolin ordered. Turning back to Miyu, who the rest of the pirates had now encircled, he demanded, "Alright, tell me what you're doing here! Why were you spying on us?"

"The name's Miyu Tsukikage," she proudly answered. "I've got a contract to find a bounty-hunter last seen in these parts and retrieve an item from her. Have you seen her?"

" _I'll_ ask the questions, cat woman. Seems you're a private contractor. Lemme see your license!"

Miyu slowly removed her wallet from her jacket so as not to arouse suspicion of a weapon. Before she could fish the license out Borro snatched the wallet from her paws and located it himself. "Well, you've failed the first test of a pirate; you _have_ a license. We don't respect mercenaries sucking up to Corneria and doing things the "sanctioned" way. On my old ship I used rolls of red tape as toilet paper to wipe my arse. Before you damn Cornerians turned my ship into a scrap carcass drifting through space..."

"Do I look Cornerian to you?" Miyu fought back.

"I dunno, but you have a license! Only Cornerian arse-sniffers carry licenses."

"Well you do desperate things when you're an upstart mercenary," Miyu defended herself. She nodded to the shrew. "Aziz her cleaned Cornerian toilets before he joined you. I applied for licenses to avoid run-ins with the government. There a difference? Doesn't mean I obeyed every law and only dealt in _legal_ jobs. How do you expect a mercenary to survive on legal work alone?"

"Wait, Aziz," Iggy asked, "you actually _did_ clean toilets?"

"She heard that from you, ijit!"

"You may not be Cornerian, but you Katinese always sucked up to those dogs!" Borro countered. "Prove to me you're not allied to them. There's a reward for turning in pirate refugees, you know."

Miyu waved a dismissive paw. "Please, the Cornerian reward money is peanuts to what I'm getting for this job. Private contractor, loaded with money. I'd be willing to cut you into the deal if you helped me out..."

This elicited a twitch from Borro's ear. "Alright, show me the contract file, and any supplemental materials. Let's see what you've got going."

Miyu pulled up a holographic display of the mission files on her wrist unit, rotting her arm for Borro to see. The pangolin clamped down on her wrist, rotating it painfully to an angle better suiting him. He gestured through the lists of items and objective statements before releasing her arm.

"Seems in order. These articles, they were stolen from a museum?"

"Well, "extorted" is closer to the right term," the lynx meekly corrected. "Though my employer prefers "bought", even though those artifacts weren't on the museum's auction list."

Borro rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "As long as there's breach of law somewhere—and pay—I'm on board. How much is this "Cira Cortez" girl getting paid?"

"Wh-what?" Miyu stammered.

"How much are these trinkets worth to _her_ employer?"

"Oh, I don't know. I never thought about that."

The pangolin rolled his head and eyes. "You mean to tell me you're a self-respecting mercenary and you don't even know how much the other side is paying for the same item?"

Miyu just shrugged sheepishly.

Borro grunted. "How do you expect to survive as a mercenary, girl?" He paced back and forth for a second while the rest of the pirates warily covered her. He didn't have much room to pace; he did more about-facing than he did actual walking. Finally he stopped and faced Miyu again.

"Tell ya what. We'll help you find this "Dark Mamba" or whatever her name is, but only if you allow _us_ to negotiate and decide how the money is split. After we find her and retrieve the baubles and figurines, we contact _her_ employer, see what he's offering, then start a bidding war between him and your _former_ employer. Got it?"

Miyu blew out a huff of air. "I guess I'm not in a position to argue, am I?"

In response, Aziz jammed the end of his rifle into the back of her head.

"Alright, I'll take it! I'll take it!"

Borro shook her hand with an iron-strong grip. "Good. Now let's formulate some plans, shall we?"

"Oh, in that case you should wait for Fay."

"What? Who's Fay?"

Miyu cupped her hands over her mouth and called, "Fay, come on in!"

There was the sound of shuffling footsteps on the roof, followed by a white flash of fur as the canine fell through the window. Her descent held none of Miyu's finesse, and she landed in a heap right on top of her compatriot. She waved at the startled pirates, pleasantly chirping, "Hellooo!"

"Blimey, there's more of 'em!" Iggy exclaimed, looking up through the window. "I better have a looksee if there's any stragglers up there." He shouldered his rifle and exited the cabin, peering suspiciously up at the roof.

"Hold on Miyu," Borro said, "You din' say nothin' about no others!"

"You never asked," Miyu curtly replied as Fay got off and helped her up. "Besides, it says it right there on the license. We're a group, not a one-woman outfit."

The pangolin grit his teeth, shoved the license back in Miyu's wallet, and threw it at her. "A Katinese wench is one thing, but _her..."_

"You're right Borro, a Cornerian bitch is another." Vetna angled her gun at Fay, who smiled back nervously. "We barely trust Miyu as it is. How can she expect us to trust her as well?"

"I'm, uh... adopted?" Fay said in a high-pitched voice.

"Name!" Borro demanded.

"F-Fay!" she gulped. "Fay MacDomhan!" She was smart enough to give her mother's maiden name, the same as she had done with Stephen Gills. If they found out her real last name, they'd be fish toast.

"So adopted by... _more_ Cornerians?" Vetna grilled.

"Yeah..."

Vetna un-cocked and subsequently _re-_ cocked her blaster just to make a point. "How is _that_ supposed to change anything?!"

Borro raised a hand to silence her. "Easy Vetna. This girl is the epitome of dumb Cornerian bitches. She couldn't pose that much of a threat to us. We can trust her to do what the Katinese says..." His eye shifted to stare ominously back at Fay. "...Right?"

Fay straightened to attention, snapping her heels and nodding vigorously. "Oh, yes sir! Right!"

"Well, now that we've convinced you not to shoot us, let's work out a plan," Miyu suggested.

" _I'll_ work out the plan, and _you'll_ continue answering questions when asked," Borro said. "Now, tell me everything you know about Black Mamba. And don't give me none of that shit like, "oh she has a mole under her left arm.""

"You saw her picture, so you don't need a physical description. Let's see..." Miyu reached back into her memory to pull out the relevant details. "The three of us formed a team two years ago." She paused a moment, letting the pirates do the math. The lynx would have been 17; Fay 16, and Cira somewhere in between. Certainly it was young for a group of female mercenaries, so Miyu waited for a surprised reaction... but she found none. The pause of silence stretched to an awkward length, and the pirates didn't bat an eye. It was as if she had reminded them space was mostly empty. Perhaps the pirates had been fighting all their lives, even starting at a younger age.

She continued, "We had a falling out only a year ago. I wanted to play by Corneria's rules and not attract attention; Cira wanted to dispense with the red tape and operate outside the law. We split apart, and Fay stuck with me. A few days ago Mamba stole those artifacts from a wealthy aristocrat by the name of Jetta Toré. Given our former connection to Mamba and our proximity to Aquas, he hired us to track her down and retrieve the jewels. So we followed her to Bayoon, managed to retrieve all except one of the items, and shot her down over Badwash. We lost her in the storm, but we know her ship crashed in the marsh. We figured she wanted to meet up with your group."

Borro scratched his chin and nodded. "Quite possible. After that shitstorm of a battle at Sector Z, both our kind and the Cornerians took heavy losses. But whereas they succeeded in cutting the head from the cobra—wiping out our leaders—their chain of command held strong. It was an all around slaughter, equal losses on every side, but the loss of our fleet commanders left us just as disorganized as we were the week before the battle. And now that mongrel Pepper has got himself promoted to Admiral of the Fleet. If it wasn't for Captain Gladys, every single pirate in the Lylat would be space flotsam back in the Nebula. He... _she..._ rallied together our ragtag forces and got us out of there. We ran with our tails between our legs to Bayoon, and we've been hiding in Badwash ever since. And don't ask where Captain Gladys is, because I don't know. I think the Captain is in the northern part of the swamp, maybe on the other side of the mountain. Thing is, we haven't had radio contact with Gladys since we split up."

"So Mamba could be with her?"

Borro looked like he wanted to correct the lynx, but didn't consider it worth it. "If she isn't with the Captain, Gladys can find her."

"Will you take us to her?" Miyu asked.

"Can't say that I will," Borro answered, earning confused looks. Just as Iggy was returning from fruitlessly checking the roof, he slapped an arm around the rat's shoulders. "But _this_ bastard will."

"Huh? Whot? Where am I going?"

Vetna was the only pirate remaining with her gun still trained on the girls. She stepped between Borro and the mercenaries. "I wouldn't trust them hardhead. Not with our watercraft, and not with Iggy of all people. Send me along."

The pangolin shook his head. "Uh-uh. You're staying with me, Vetna. This is our only time to have the cabin to ourselves, and without the rest of those _creeps_ hanging around, maybe you and I can get somewhere, babe. Naw, Everyone besides us two will go. Iggy, Aziz, Krik, and Gus—take two speedboats and sail up the river. Follow it upstream to as close to the mountain as you can get. When you can't get any farther on the boat, get out and walk around Mount Obukula. You won't find them; they'll find _you._ "

Krik snickered. "You two better get it on fast, Borro. The patrols will be back soon, you know."

Borro grit his teeth and flung his arm towards the door. "Out! Out-out-out-out!"

After Borro rudely kicked them out of the cabin Miyu, Fay, and the other pirates descended to the lower level and grabbed a pair of speedboats. Iggy clearly didn't trust them; he forced Miyu to get into the larger boat with himself and Aziz, while Krik took Fay in the smaller boat. That way, Miyu and Fay couldn't escape in their own boat, or overpower the pirates with superior numbers. Apparently Iggy wasn't as brain-dead as he previously lead them to believe. Gus attempted to join them, but couldn't last more than a few seconds on Fay and Krik's boat before getting seasick and barfing over the side. He lay down on the picnic table again, hugging himself to keep the world from spinning.

Miyu internally pumped her fist. That left Fay alone with Krik; she was confident the canine could take him one-on-one if the need arose. She wasn't planning a shoot-out, but if they tried anything funny on the two attractive girls, Miyu appreciated having an alternate plan.

The two speedboats hummed to life and sputtered away from the floating cabin. Fay looked back, staring uneasily at the frog skins which slowly shrank from view.

Aziz piloted Miyu and Iggy's boat ahead, while Krik kept his and Fay's slightly behind and on their eighth. At max speed, the boats skimmed and bounced over Mulaboo Marsh faster than either the airboat or the levibike had gone. They crossed the treeline in no time at all, leaving the wide open marsh for the forested swamp. The trees blotted out the glowing surface of Aquas floating hundreds of miles above. They ranged from bald cypresses with mountainous knees poking from beneath the water, to willows with cascading, tear-shaped leaves... but no aspens. Moss and ferns covered both banks; blue lichen, mushrooms, and hairy poison ivy vines strangled each trunk; and a thick green carpet of duckweed and lily pads blanketed the surface of the water. Miyu wasn't sure where the swamp ended and the "river" began. It all looked like one big swamp to her.

In the distance, rising above the trees loomed Mount Obukala, or Okubula—whatever they called it the lynx couldn't remember. It didn't need a name really. All one had to do was point at the giant thing. The mountain was tall enough that its peak became lost in the clouds. Bayoon's great Pillar stretched from its apex through hundreds of miles of blue sky to Aquas' surface—Bayoon's eternal ceiling. At some point, somewhere in that blinding, awe-inspiring column of clouds, up suddenly became down and down became up; a heavenly limbo between planet and moon, where the angels hung in perfect equilibrium. Frozen.

Miyu shook the meandering thought trail from her head. Fay was probably wondering why she was spaced out, and the lynx already had enough trouble convincing her she wasn't batshit-crazy. She turned to Iggy the rat, who was currently scanning the shore with cautious eyes.

"So... where exactly are we going?" she asked.

Iggy, seated in the co-pilot's chair, only spared her a short sideways glance before returning to his vigil. His expression didn't change.

"As in, where is this Gladys person staked out? I know she's on the other side of the mountain, but where is she staying? Did she manage to save a cruiser from Sector Z and hide it somewhere? Or is she holed up in a hidden camp so the Cornerians won't find her with radar? What about a cave? Another houseboat?"

It was a tactic she had learned from Fay; barrage a clam-mouthed individual with incessant questions and wild answers until they broke. The bubbly Cornerian used it on her all the time. Just as she hoped, it seemed to work on Iggy as well. His lips pulled back into a snarl as he answered.

"I honestly don't know, missy. I've never seen Gladys' hideout, nor 'ave any of the others. Even Borro, the spiky bastard. When we first arrived at this miserable mudhole we got _one_ call with vague instructions from the Captain, which said to "lie low and wait for further orders." Well it's been _weeks,_ and those instructions never came. Our number's a lot larger than the six of us you saw. The cabin is so bloody small the only way Borro could keep us from killing one another was sending half of us on constant patrol at any time. This can't go on forever though; the local yokels are bound to notice their neighbors missing, and one might get wise 'nough to phone in the Provisionals—or even the Cornerians. I hope on my grandmother's grave Gladys has a plan for that, else it'll be the fiery nebula all over again."

"Then there's at least a rendezvous point on the other side, right?" Miyu pressed.

He nodded. "Aye, that there may be. Gladys and her men are bound to spot us, and if it wasn't for your Cornerian sister there I wouldn't worry 'tall about being mistaken for interlopers." He nodded in Fay's direction, and Miyu followed the gesture to her teammate. With the anole piloting the ship, Fay was stretched out on the long, aerodynamic hood of the other speedboat, her arms folded behind her head, laid back against the windscreen. Miyu stared in disapproval at her teammate's outfit. They only just barely convinced these pirates not to shoot her, and even besides being a canine, an outfit like that would immediately arouse suspicion. White prim and proper flight jacket, red tucked in shirt, and black shorts. And how could she ever _not_ notice the cutesy red bow bobbing over her perfectly groomed hair.

When she noticed Miyu looking her way, the spaniel flashed a brilliant smile and gave her a thumbs-up. The lynx sighed.

Fay was going to get them all killed.

Turning back to Iggy, she changed the subject. "Did you all happen to shoot down a small cargo transport over the swamp? Say, in the past day or so?"

The rat shook his head. "Naw, we don't 'ave the equipment. Just stinkin' boats. Gladys and 'er crew could've. Whot's it tooya?"

Miyu looked away, scanning the moss-covered wall of trees. "We found a wreck in the swamp, not too far from here. Fay and I couldn't figure out why it crashed. The pilots were nowhere to be found, but there were signs of a struggle—and a glowing yellow pigment spread everywhere. Do you know anything about a yellow chemical like that?"

Iggy's ear shot up. "Why yes, Gladys had some very cryptic instructions. She said," and he mimicked the stoat's deep, molasses voice, ""Now don't you go tasting any of that pretty yellow goo, sprinkle muffins." And that's it. We found some in the Aquans' shanty boat, but after daring Gus to sniff it we jus' threw it out. Never doubt Gladys' word is my policy."

"Huh..."

Hearing their conversation, Aziz snickered, "Ya didn't taste none of the stuff, did ya?"

"No, I don't normally go about eating weird chemicals," Miyu swiftly fired back.

"Welp," Iggy slapped his palms on his hips, "When we find Gladys you can ask her yourself. Now howzabout that?"

But Miyu wasn't listening. She was lost in thought, transported back to that horrific night. If the pirates had eaten the chemical they found at the Aquans' houseboat, maybe they would have ended up like the pilots of the transport; eating each other alive. If only... but then they wouldn't be on track to locating Gladys and Cira with their enemies dead instead of at the helm.

Still replaying memories Fay claimed to be fake, Miyu studied the pirates and their crafts out of the corner of her eye. She recognized the speedboats from their confrontation with the pirates. She wondered how many of the pirates present she had killed herself—and if she would have to do it again.

Something in Aziz' bag beeped, and he reached in to remove a wave phone. He checked the name of the caller only for his eyes to grow wide. The shrew handed the phone over to Iggy. "Iggs, it's for you. Gladys!"

Iggy's Adam's apple caught in his throat. "G-Gladys? For _me? ..._ About damn time!"

The rat lost all of his confidence and bearing as he excused himself to take the call further away from the others, towards the back of the boat. He held the phone to his ear, stared off into the swamp as he talked, and _mmhmmph_ -ed every so often. Once Gladys had said her peace, Iggy hung up barely having spoken more than a few words. He pocketed the wave phone and returned to the front with Miyu and Aziz.

"Was that Gladys?"

"Aye, that was the Captain. She knows we're on our way, and she'll let you two into the base on one condition."

"Sure," Miyu shrugged. "What is it?"

Iggy pointed a crooked finger at her chest. "Just give us that necklace... and you're free to enter."

Miyu clutched at the pendent through her sweat-stained top. "What? What does this matter? It's just one of the artifacts we have to recover."

Iggy impatiently curled his fingers, gesturing for the necklace. "Hell if I know what she wants it for! Now hand it over, missy."

The lynx suddenly felt very attached to the necklace; she was reluctant to give it up. Putting it on was the last memory she had before waking up on Bayoon, and it already felt like an unconscious security blanket she had been clinging to without knowing it. "No! This is the key to our paycheck, remember?"

In a flash, the rat drew his blaster and pointed it at Miyu's torso. Moments later, Aziz had his own gun trained on her, and Krik caught on and covered Fay.

Miyu raised her paws. "Oookay, I didn't expect to be in this position again so soon."

Iggy jerked his gun threateningly. "Shut yer trap. Get those fancy beads off yer neck before I put a bullet through it."

Miyu glanced across the water at Fay, who now crouched defensively on the hood of the other speedboat. She looked worriedly between Krik and Miyu, waiting for guidance.

The corner of the feline's mouth twitched, faster than either pirate could detect. "Alright, fine, I don't care. The necklace isn't even "me"—you know what I'm saying?"

While Miyu fished the pendent from her shirt, she took a few steps around Iggy, placing him between herself and Aziz. She lowered her head, lifting the coils up and over her ears. She spread her fingers, leaving a wide opening in the necklace as she held it out to Iggy. Iggy juggled his blaster over to his left hand, cautiously reaching for the necklace with his right. But at the last second Miyu swung the jewelry, catching the barrel of his blaster. Using the necklace she jerked his blaster into the dashboard of the boat just in time to catch a red energy bolt on the display. Snapping the necklace back, she wrenched the blaster from Iggy's paw and drew her own; instantly planting two searing holes in his stomach. Aziz couldn't do much stuck in his chair on the opposite side of Iggy. Miyu pushed the dead rat's body his way, and when Aziz shoved it off himself she took aim and shot his hand, sending his own blaster from his grasp. The shrew yelped and grabbed his paw, leaving himself incapacitated.

The instant Miyu sprung her trap and Iggy's gun went off, Fay jumped into action as well. She pounced on Krik, eliminating the threat of his blaster. Using the element of surprise, she wrestled the slightly larger lizard off the side of the boat, sending up a thunderous splash between the two ships. She fired wildly after him, screaming, "That's for the Aquans you killed!" Soon, his lifeless body rose like a jellyfish to the surface.

Miyu was surprised by her counterpart's animosity, but she had no reason to complain. She was always coaching Fay to be more aggressive, and for once she came through. Covering Aziz with her blaster, she had Fay pull her speedboat alongside hers, and the spaniel hopped onto their deck. The two girls stood over Aziz' seated form, the shrew clutching his wounded hand, staring back defiantly.

While Fay kept a bead on Aziz, Miyu retreated back to the crumpled rat, fishing the wave phone from his pocket. Hopefully she could glean the pirate captain's location from it. That is, if worse came to worst, and the shrew wouldn't cooperate. At least she still had her necklace, for whatever good that would do her. At this point it seemed like a Pyrrhic victory, but it saved them the trouble of thinking of a way out further up the river.

"Alright Aziz, just go back to what you were doing and take us to Gladys. Got it?"

The shrew's snout wiggled and sniffed. "Ha. Like I'd ever take orders from two teenage girls. I rather be castrated outright."

Miyu brandished her gun in his face. "Show us the way, or I put a bolt through your other hand."

The pirate smiled. "I think not, girls." He slowly pulled open his shirt, which he had been secretly unbuttoning while he cradled his hand. Miyu and Fay's guns shook nervously when they realized what was there. Beneath his shirt Aziz exposed a tactical vest strapped with flat explosive packs wired to a pulsing control device in the center.

"Shoot me, and the frogs fish our charred remains out of _Aquas'_ ocean." He indicated the blue sphere dominating the sky above them.

"What?!" Fay exclaimed. "You just happened to be wearing that? Or do you even sleep with that on?"

"So what?" Aziz sniffed. "I sleep on me back."

"Do you even wear it while you bathe?" Fay pressed.

"Bathe? Pirates don't bathe! Gayest shit I've ever..."

After he trailed off, Miyu hummed, "Oh well, I guess if we can't kill you, we'll just have to flay you alive like you did to those Aquans."

"Ha, you're bluffing! You girls don't know how to scale a fish."

"Exactly," Miyu leaned in, her shadow covering Aziz. "Which is why we'll be _so_ much more clumsy and it'll be _so_ much more painful."

Before either of the girls could stop him, Aziz pressed a button on the center of the device. A robotic female voice happily chimed, _"Self-destruct sequence activated."_

"What are you doing?!"

"Are you insane?!" Fay cried.

"I'll meet you girls on the other side of the Hellgates! _HAHAHAAAA!"_

As a ten-second countdown began, Miyu grabbed Fay's shoulders and pushed her over the edge of the boat. "Run, just friggin' run girl!"

The teammates hastily tumbled over the side of the boat, swimming to a safe distance after they hit the water. Looking back with only their heads poking above the surface, they saw Aziz stand up, look left and right, then gun the engine and turn the speedboat around, laughing maniacally all the while. As he sped past their location, sending waves of swamp water up their noses, he shouted, "God, what nitwits! See ya later, cock-suckers!"

By the time Aziz' boat disappeared down the way they had come, Miyu and Fay had climbed back aboard the smaller of the two speedboats. They lay on the bottom of the deck, panting, soaking wet, and staring up at the giant orb of Aquas in the sky.

"So... do we... go... after him?" Fay managed between breaths.

Miyu rocked her head back and forth. "No... it'll set us back too far. We can... beat the pirates to the mountain." With rekindled self-resolve, Miyu lifted herself up and sat in the pilot's seat. Fay eventually joined her, and she restarted the engine and sped off towards the mountain. They were minus three pirates and a speedboat, but with the wave phone Miyu saved they now had control over their own guide.

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Miyu piloted the speedboat as best she could up the river. The further north they sailed—closer to the mountain—the denser the trees and brush grew. The river was more of a swamp at this point, becoming wider, shallower, and more sluggish. The teammates often found themselves having to get out and push the boat through tangles of roots, vines, nettles, or sand and mud ridges. Eventually the river transformed into something so impassable they had to abandon the watercraft completely. Taking some provisions the pirates had stored up, they hopped off the boat and into the swamp.

The forested swampland felt unbearably humid. To keep from weighing themselves down the girls removed their white flight jackets and wrapped them around the supplies, which had a natural tendency to float. Mosquitoes and other hungry bugs bit at their newly exposed skin, causing them to prefer the cool water to the occasional dry island that surfaced. At times the underbrush and low-hanging vines were so thick the girls had to use their knives to carve their way through.

Between the leafy canopy high above their heads, the sky was growing orange, which cast warm rays of light and shadows which played tricks on their eyes onto the water below. The midday eclipse was nearly upon them. Soon they would have to travel without light, relying solely on the twilight created by the sun reflecting off Aquas' surface—and Miyu did not want to be caught wandering the forest in the dark. Not like last time.

Lost in worry again, Miyu forgot to warn Fay about a deep pothole in the stream bed below. The spaniel cried out in surprise, the latter half of her exclamation garbled by water as her head slipped below the surface. She momentarily emerged again, spluttering and shaking water from her head every which way. She didn't break stride though, keeping on Miyu's tail.

""Let's take the mission on Aquas again,"" Fay mimicked, spitting out water. ""It'll be like another vacation. All that sunshine and water." Is _this_ what you had in mind?"

Miyu forced aside a curtain of roots with her free arm. "I accepted this mission because it was the only respectable one we were offered, Fay. As a bonus it paid well, and we're familiar with how Cira operates."

"That's not how you sold it to me," Fay pouted.

"Yeah, well, you wouldn't listen to sensible reasons. You're just homesick for your estate on Zoness, with all those islands. I know what appeals to Fay MacDane."

"Please, don't use my real last name. You have no idea who could be watching, and I don't want to attract attention!"

"Then you have it too?" Miyu asked.

The lynx pulled up, and Fay was forced to stop as well. "What do you mean? Feel what?"

"Feel like we're being watched. I've just... had that feeling since we got here. Or at least, since I woke up that second time."

"Maybe you're just extra paranoid?" the spaniel posited. "I don't think anything could follow us out here; we'd see it f- _IIIIRST_!"

Fay jumped to a higher portion of the stream bed, clinging to the vines and supporting herself on her pack. "AAAAH! EW! Something long and slimy touched me!"

At the canine's scream, Miyu involuntarily jumped as well. "Fay, don't _do_ that! Why do you always have to howl?! I swear, if this is another goddamn fish, so help me..."

Miyu trailed off, noticing the water stirring around her. Something thick and smooth suddenly wrapped around her legs, crushing them together. She dropped her pack, spreading her arms to keep her balance. "Fay!" she screamed, "Fay, _help!_ " Whatever was attacking her was so strong it pulled her legs out from under her torso, causing the feline to flip over into the water. With barely enough time to catch her breath, Miyu found herself going under, plunging into the dark liquid.


	6. MMMMM Juicy Gumbo

**Chapter 6: _MMMM_ _M_ _..._ Juicy Gumbo**

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Miyu's eyes were chilled and stung by the brown, muddy water. Bubbles rose up in front of her face, obscuring her vision along with the murky quality of the water. When they cleared, and her eyes adjusted to the water, she saw a flash of tan and russet brown scales covering a wide appendage of some sort.

After the scaled tube thrashed out of sight, Fay's glowing white paws emerged from the muddy cloud in its place. They flailed blindly in the water, but eventually caught hold of Miyu's arms. Mustering what strength she could, Fay lifted her teammate out of the water. Miyu regained her footing, and her head broke the surface of the swamp, allowing her to spit out a mouthful of muddy liquid and replenish her oxygen. Whatever had been wrapped around her legs had let go, and Miyu stumbled back with Fay toward the higher bank. While Miyu regained her breath, Fay shone a flashlight across the frothing surface. The spotlight only illuminated the brown swamp at first, but eventually it landed on the same scaled coils Miyu had seen below the surface.

"Oh my god, it's a snake! _It's a huge fucking snaaaake!_ "

Fay wildly pointed the flashlight around the water in front of them. But try as she might, she couldn't locate the head; only more and more and _more_ coils of serpentine flesh that broke the surface and disappeared underwater again. It was impossible to tell the snake's length or where the tail ended and the head began. As far as the girls knew it could even have been more than one. Regardless of its unknown length, the body itself was thicker than Miyu's thigh in places, accounting for its surprising ability to crush her.

If there was one animal Miyu _was_ deathly afraid of, it was snakes. The fear even extended to some intelligent Lylatian species—mostly the reptiles, but some gangly salamanders as well. She normally prided herself in being the bravest of their team, always pushing Fay to be more courageous... but snakes were the great equalizer.

Especially 30 kilogram ones.

When the canine's light gravitated to a disturbance right in front of them, she caught the head for a split second—and it was looking straight at her. The head rocketed out of the water, its rows of pointed teeth flashing for a split-second in the beam of light. An instant later the snake bit down on Fay's arm that gripped the flashlight. Her resulting scream echoed through the trees and swamp.

That, however, was the last straw for Miyu. Ignoring the overpowering sense of repulsion, Miyu grabbed the snake's diamond-shaped head and dug into its golden eyes with her fingers and claws. Strong eyelids snapped down over her digits, but she pressed them relentlessly into the gelatinous organs. When the snake had enough it let go of Fay's arm, coiling back on itself. Pus or some milky chemical sizzled on its way out from the snake's eye sockets. The massive boa retreated, pausing in the nearby water to hiss at the girls before slipping back beneath the surface.

The hiss sent chills down Miyu's spine. It reminded her of a dragon's hiss; the kind she was used to seeing in Katinese monster flicks—minus the fire and spindly limbs.

Fay kept the light on the frothing swamp water while Miyu grabbed her arm, trying to get a look at the snake bite in the dim light.

"Fay, how bad is it?!" the lynx demanded.

"I'll be fine."

"No, shine the light on it, now!"

A dark liquid was appearing in beads where the snake had bittern her. It was hard to see, even with the fading glow of sunset. But Fay kept the flashlight trained on the water, ignoring her own needs.

"I said I'll be fine! We have to worry about the snake right now!"

For once Miyu envied how Fay kept her head while she herself couldn't. Letting go of Fay's shaking arm, she drew her blaster and fired red bolts of energy at any portion of the boa that dared show itself above water. In her panic, her aim was clumsy, and more often than not the lasers only sent up a spray of boiling water. And the more she fired, the more the snake learned to hide itself beneath the water.

"Miyu, stop that! You're doing no good that way. Find the head!"

"The head..." Miyu repeated to herself. Glancing back at the shimmering drops of blood on the spaniel's arm, she quickly formulated a ridiculous and idiotic plan.

"Here, gimme that!" She pried the flashlight from Fay's paw and replaced it with her blaster. "Use this, but try not to shoot me."

"What? How would I shoot you?!"

Shining the torch on her exposed arm, Miyu waded back into the water, cursing profusely in her head. _Why_ are _you doing this?! Why do you think this is such a good idea!?_ Once deep enough, she extended her arm out over the water and held it ramrod straight.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Fay repeated, this time practically screeching.

Except for the violent water lapping against roots and banks, and the girls' panicked breathing, the swamp fell silent. There was no immediate sign of the snake, no part of its shining scales rising above the water, but still Miyu kept her guard up.

After a time even the surface of the swamp had calmed, until the blue disk of Aquas was barely interrupted by the ripples. Insects chirped, and the teammates held their breaths. While standing out in the lower swamp bed Miyu was up to her waist in water. The more she waited, the more she could feel the cold liquid chilling her bones, rubbing in just how miserable and vulnerable she was.

Then the snake's head launched up from the water, jaws wide. It happened so fast Miyu had no time to react. By the time she jumped back and let out a scream, it had already clamped down on her arm. Now the lynx could feel Fay's pain; it felt like needles—nails, even—driving deep into her unprotected skin.

Using all her might she twisted around, dragging the boa's thick coils with her. The weight of the snake's body caused the teeth to tug at her skin, threatening to tear out a large chunk of her arm.

Through the searing pain she choked out, "Now Fay! Shoot it!"

Taking her cue, Fay jumped to her aid. She splashed deeper into the swamp after Miyu, closing the gap until she could safely take the shot without harming her companion. What Fay judged to be a safe distance was actually point blank range; rather than risk hitting the feline at all, she jammed the nose of the blaster directly against the snake's unsuspecting face—and fired parallel to Miyu's arm.

The lynx felt the heat from the shot burn her forearm. A brilliant ruby flash erupted from the barrel, instantly followed by a bang and the snake's head erupting. Its jaws and brain matter close to the impact site fried instantly. The rest scattered in a red mist, eventually raining down to taint the swamp water. Lifeless, the hollow head and the trunk of the snake's neck slid off Miyu's arm and plunged into the water.

"Miyu, what were you _thinking?!_ That was so stupid of—"

"Shut up!" Miyu lashed out in a harsher voice than she intended. Wading onto higher ground, she grabbed Fay's arm and held it under the beam of her flashlight—this time without any objections. Ignoring her own bleeding arm, she studied the wound. There were close to two-dozen puncture wounds in two crescent shapes. Spreading apart Fay's fur, she could see the skin around the wounds turning red. Was this a bad sign, or just normal for the blood?

"It's really not that bad," Fay mumbled.

"That snake could have had venom in its fangs," the lynx reasoned. "If we're lucky, I can suck it out before too much spreads to your heart."

"Wha-? Hey!"

Ignoring her protests, Miyu leaned down and pressed her lips against Fay's arm, trying to draw the poison out. With each new taste of blood, she withdrew to spit it out before returning to the awkward task.

"Miyu..."

" _Mmmph? HAAAAK-PTEWY!_ "

"You... you mean to tell me you let that snake bite you thinking it was poisonous?"

"Yeah, it was the only way to— _HWAK-PTOO!_ —ensure you got a shot at— _HKK-PEAUGH_ —the head."

Fay stared at Miyu, a newfound admiration in her glowing eyes.

Eventually, part of the spaniel's question registered with Miyu. "Wait, you mean that snake _wasn't_ venomous?"

"Boa constrictors aren't venomous. They choke their prey," Fay explained. Then, sheepishly, she added, " _Bayoon Bushcraft._ "

Miyu looked up, meeting the canine's eyes as she prepared to go down on her arm again.

"Then why the hell... Aw, _yuck!_ " She shoved Fay's arm away, doubling over to spit even harder and mock-vomit into the swamp.

Fay smiled, but she still understood the courage of Miyu's previous actions. "For all you knew, you could've died from that stunt, but you did it anyway. Why?"

Crouching over the water, Miyu looked back up at Fay's expectant face and wiped the spit from her jaw. "Well, I wasn't really thinking about it. I mean, I put together that the snake had attacked your arm, and offering my own might get him to expose his head again, but..." She looked down. "I figured if you'd been bitten, there was no reason for why I shouldn't go through the same. If _you_ were going to, you know... then I might as well, too."

She rubbed her paws together for a moment, waiting for the inevitable admonishment from her partner. Instead, she heard the sound of parting water as Fay came close and hugged her tight.

Once again, Fay surprised her with a strategic embrace.

Recalling a similar, awkward exchange on the dock, Miyu returned the hug quicker than she would have naturally. She let Fay's hug envelop her, sucking away the memory of the snake. Both of the girls used the embrace to quell their fight-or-flight response.

When their elevated breathing returned to normal, they were left with the quiet sound of insects chirping, and otherwise dead silence. Miyu broke the embrace first, stepping back to examine her own wrist.

"Still, you think we could get infected? I don't like the idea of swamp water seeping into our puncture wounds."

Fay giggled. "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you try sucking the infection out?" She winked.

"I don't think it works like that," the lynx mumbled, wiping the beads of blood on her shirt's armpit.

"Would've worked just as well on the snake venom."

Miyu cocked her head while Fay pocketed the flashlight. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "Well, you know sucking the poison out is futile, right? If the snake was deadly, the venom would have spread within seconds. You missed your window by about a minute, sad to say..."

"Oh," Miyu's eyes widened a little, the fact that Fay would've died because of her ineptitude sinking in. "At least that's the way we do it back on Katina. It's not like we have the best doctors or hospitals just a block away. In rural communities like this, you have to do what you can to save yourself." Holstering her pack on her shoulder, she added, "Anyway, we better get out of this area. I think that snake's corpse already washed up against my leg a couple of times, and I'm not really into tentacle fanchang."

" _Fanchang?_ "

 _I should not have said that..._ "Uh, just a genre of cartoons we have back home. They always feature octopuses n' squids n'... stuff."

"Cool," Fay murmured. "I love cartoons! Maybe when we return to Katina we could watch some of those together."

Miyu failed to suppress a snort. "Oh my god Fay. Just... just follow me."

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An hour after the sun set beneath the horizon of Bayoon they met dry land—at least, as dry as they could hope for in Badwash. The waist-deep swamp became knee, then ankle-deep, until the flat spreads of water divided into individual creeks flowing from the mountain. Rather than continue wading to escape the carnivorous bugs, both girls agreed land would be infinitely better. They climbed up a short but slippery bank and nearly kissed the ground they set foot on.

Fay took the lead with the flashlight, weaving in and out of bushes, tree trunks, and low hanging branches. An abundance of vines impeded their course, sometimes forming thick walls of slithery hands.

Once they broke from the prison of vines, they stumbled into an open hollow illuminated by the bright glow of Aquas, which was unhindered due to the lack of trees. The cold touch of the water had been long gone, but a sudden thought crept up on Miyu, a result of recent paranoia.

"Fay, Fay wait!"

The spaniel stopped and gave Miyu a queer look as she turned around to face her. "Huh? What is it?"

"Do you remember what Simon said about leeches?"

"Uh, Simon? Who are we talking about?"

Miyu smacked a palm over her face, cursing herself for forgetting. Of course Fay didn't remember picking leeches off of Simon. And even if she did, the easily nauseated canine would have burned the unpleasant memory from her mind. Realizing this, she skipped the part about Simon.

"We just spent half the morning wading through a freshwater swamp, probably crawling with leeches. You've seen _Bayoon Bushcraft._ Now do the math. How likely do you think it is we picked up like a dozen leeches during that time?"

Fay stared up at Miyu's face for a couple seconds, Bayoon's sister satellite lighting her up like a ghost. Slowly it sank in, her eyes widening and her jaw opening to let out a silent scream. Then like a volcano erupting, she took off around the hollow, writhing and dancing without the aid of rave music and ecstasy. She beat at her clothes, shook her arms and legs, and clawed at her back, sometimes even rubbing up against a tree for good measure. All the while, she howled and whined and whimpered in panic.

At first Miyu just stood back, placing her hands on her hips and laughing at the sight, but eventually she felt like lending a paw. She jogged over to Fay, who, at this stage in her interpretive dance, was bent over trying to search her back beneath the hem of her shirt.

Miyu tapped her spine, causing Fay to shoot up ramrod straight. "AAH!"

"Fay, calm down!"

"They're all over me! They're all over me—I can feel them!"

"Alright, I'll help get rid of them! Keep your shirt on! ...Actually, no, take your shirt off. We need to check _everywhere_ for the little critters."

It took a second for Fay to compose herself to a state where she wasn't hyper-ventilating. When she finally comprehended Miyu's suggestion, she exclaimed, "Yeah, gotta get it all off! _All_ off!" And without any further prodding from Miyu, she grabbed the jacket tied around her waist and slung it to the ground. Next she grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it up her torso. In her panic she got the shirt stuck around her elbows and head, and Miyu had to help untangle her. With her shirt gone she kicked off her boots and worked on her pants. Miyu followed suit, stripping until both the girls were clad in nothing but their undergarments.

Miyu examined Fay's body first. Her near-naked form stood shivering from fear and sudden exposure. The Aquas-manufactured twilight washed down onto her pearl white fur, bathing it in a soft blue glow. That was lucky, as Fay had absentmindedly pocketed the flashlight before stripping down.

Crossing her arms over her lace bra (she knew Miyu wouldn't approve of her dainty choice of attire), Fay demanded, "Well, _see anything?!"_

"Yeah..." Miyu dreamily murmured. Recovering, she cleared her throat and clarified, "Yeah, I think I see one—"

"EW! Get it off, GET IT OFF!"

Miyu quickly located a bulbous brown leech hanging beneath the inward curve of Fay's flat stomach. Recoiling a little, she braved the leech and flicked it off after several failed attempts.

"Okay, it's off!"

"Are there any others?!"

The lynx scanned some more, eventually finding one clinging desperately to Fay's lower thigh. The poor leech had no idea what a ride he was in for when he first latched on in the swamp. Braver this time, Miyu took a swipe at the oozing creature, eliciting a squeak from Fay as her paw swatted her leg. She tried again, this time grabbing the leech and jerking it free. She hurled it back into the forest, small droplets of blood audibly smattering against the leaves.

"Is that all of them?!"

Miyu looked the canine up and down, then nodded. "Front side's clean."

Without waiting for her ally to ask, Fay spun around and presented her backside to Miyu. "Come on, hurry! Ooh I can't stand this!"

The spaniel's sleek back was free from the leech threat, her lily fur unblemished by the monsters. Miyu's eyes wandered further down, past the small of her back to settle on her lace panties, pulled just bellow the fluffy tail poking above the elastic hem.

"Your back's free," Miyu alerted her, eyes still glued below her tail.

"What about...?" Fay trailed off, not wanting to finish.

"Um, I'll have to check your underwear, if that's okay."

Fay danced back and forth between her feet. "I don't care! Just hurry! The thought of it creeps me out!"

Miyu was vividly aware of her heightened pulse and thumping heart—worse even than when the snake attacked. She felt embarrassed. _What's wrong with me? Just get it over with._ She slipped her index fingers into the elastic band holding up Fay's panties. She slowly pulled the strap back, revealing more and more of the spaniel. Her eyes cascaded over the twin mounds of soft skin and puff-ball fur, drinking in Fay's adorable backside. It was small but shapely for someone of her petite size; the sapphire glow of Aquas washed over her, casting dark shadows beneath the round cheeks and the cleft in between.

It was the cutest sight Miyu had ever seen.

Becoming impatient from fear and awkwardness, Fay whimpered, "This is _humiliatiiiing!_ Hurry up and find them!"

Gulping the unbidden desire back down, Miyu returned to her job. "I don't see any... Wait, there's one!"

Fay nearly leapt a foot in the air, but Miyu held onto her underwear with a death grip. "NO! No-no-no-no! Not there! Miyu, _please!"_

"Don't worry, I've got it. Just hoooold still."

"Ohhh!" Fay buried her face in her hands and tried to subdue her shivering. Miyu freed one of her paws from the elastic band, still holding the panties open in a triangle shape. She extended a finger on her free hand and prepped for action. Her eyes darted between her two potential targets, debating.

 _Left!_

With a swift motion, she jabbed her digit into Fay's left cheek. Her victim yipped and jumped into the air, and once she came back down Miyu released the strap, causing it to snap back and strike the top of Fay's rear. The resounding impact and slap caused Fay to jump even higher the second time.

"Crap, I'm sorry! I knocked it off, but it's still in there!"

"Oh my god, shit shit shiiiiiiit!" Fay sprung away from Miyu, hopping up and down repeatedly in a blind frenzy. Finally she stood in place long enough to jam her hands through the straps of her panties, brutally force them down her legs, and rocket out when they hit the moss-covered ground. She continued streaking through the hollow, bottom-less and swatting at her exposed nether regions. Miyu stood laughing uncontrollably at the perfection of her evil scheme.

When the spaniel was satisfied the leech was no longer on her person, she pulled her tail between her legs to cover her nudity, standing beneath the glowing halo of Aquas in a scene straight from the _Birth of Miluka*._ Once she realized Miyu was laughing her head off she exclaimed, "Miyu Tsukikage you tricked me! There never was a leech, was there?"

The lynx recovered from her overpowering laughter long enough to shake her head. "I'm sorry!" she sobbed, "I'm so sorry Fay! I shouldn't have taken advantage of your gullibility like that. I couldn't help it!"

Fay sneered at her helplessly, before _hmmph_ ing and jutting her nose up in the air. She sauntered away from Miyu, letting her tail hang down between her legs to cover her backside, and bent down to look for her underwear.

When Miyu noticed she wasn't coming back up, she asked through mirthful tears, "What's... what's the matter girl?"

"I can't find my panties," Fay pouted.

The lynx doubled over, clutching her stomach as she dry-laughed without air. It came out as an intermittent choking noise.

Fay turned around and strategically positioned her tail again. "Well, don't just stand there laughing! Give me the flashlight!"

" _Can't!"_ Miyu wheezed. _"It's in your pants. Ahahahaha!"_

"Well where are my pan—" Fay cut herself off, realizing the circular shape of her dilemma. "No! Noooo! You're laughing your head off while I'm stuck in a catch-22 with no panties! Ughhh!" She stomped around in a miniature rain dance.

Finally stealing some air between laughing fits, Miyu said, "Okay, okay, I'll help. We'll find your pants and the flashlight, and then we'll find your undies. But if _I_ find them first, you owe me a favor."

"Fine! Whatever! Just help. I feel naked out here. Check that—I _am_ naked! What if a country bumpkin comes along? Or a pirate! Or one of those monsters you were telling me about!"

The mention of the zomboid creatures lurking in the forest gave Miyu pause. It was all fun and games until now. But remembering their common demise at the claws of those fiends...

Miyu's laughing quickly subsided to a manageable level. She joined Fay in the hunt for her pants, using her wrist comm as a makeshift light. That combined with the eclipse twilight illuminated the veritable haystack of a hollow they were searching through. It turned out her flight pants were closer to Miyu than herself, along with the rest of their clothes. It was a scant few steps to where the girls had first shed their outer garments, and soon Miyu was riffling through the pockets of Fay's pants. But just as she located the cylindrically-shaped lump beneath the synthetic material, Fay pounced on her, snatching her pants from Miyu's hands. Pressing her legs tightly together to straddle her tail in place, Fay searched for the pocket with both paws until she claimed the flashlight for herself. She shone the light on her face so Miyu could better see the taunting raspberry she made. Then she pointed the beam at the ground, scanning for her lost panties.

Miyu was disappointed that she didn't get to use the flashlight, but she shrugged. She'd continue using the light from her wrist watch. Nose and arm to the ground, she hunted around the clearing for a fashionable pair of underwear. Every once and a while she'd steal a glance at Fay, who would bend down to check somewhere and unwittingly give Miyu another tantalizing view.

The dim glow of Miyu's wrist unit fell upon an expensive, stylish pair of panties that had no right to be lost in a backwater region of Badwash. She scooped them up. Twirling them on the end of her finger, she called, "Faaay, look what I found!"

The spaniel turned and looked in Miyu's direction, lighting up when she noticed the garment. "Yes! _Thank_ you!" Skipping over, she pulled up in front of Miyu, who handed her underwear over. She faced away from Miyu and slipped into the article, leaving the cat to steal one last look of Fay's adorable backside. When it was covered again she felt her heart sink.

When Fay moved onto her pants, Miyu realized, "Hey, you could have just put those on _before_ you found your underwear, you know."

Fay paused in the middle of zipping her pants. "Oh. You're right. Well, I guess I could've..." Somehow, Miyu didn't get the impression she was that displeased. "So, what's that favor you wanted? You found my panties, and as promised you get a reward."

Miyu shrugged. "Honestly, I didn't have anything planned. But you owe me one! Now, it's time you searched _me_." During the past five minutes she had also been standing in nothing but her undergarments, and was still worried she might carry leeches.

The spaniel shivered at the thought. "You know those things gross me out, but... I'll do it."

Using the flashlight for aid, she checked the front of Miyu's body but came up empty. "Guess the leeches just don't like your taste."

Miyu placed her hands on her waist and cocked her hips to one side. "Oh? And just what do I taste like?"

"Tuna."

After Miyu sighed in exasperation, Fay twirled her finger around, indicating for her to face away. When she complied, Fay took the light from head to toe, once again finding nothing. Though maybe she found several but was too afraid to report her findings and have to swat them off...

"Nothing back here, either. Let me check your underwear now."

As Miyu had done before, Fay slipped a finger into the lynx's athletic-oriented underwear and pulled back. Miyu's pulse took off, the sensation of having her own backside exposed was undeniably arousing. She could feel a breeze passing between her legs, combating Bayoon's humidity and the sweat gathering on her fur.

When Fay paused an awkwardly long time with her panties down, Miyu spoke up. "So, you see anything? ...Fay, whatever you do, don't you _dare_ —"

Fay pulled as far back as she could with Miyu's underwear, until the elastic band was at its breaking point. Then she released, and the strap snapped back against Miyu's rear, the colossal sound of which scattered flocks of birds into the air, and could be heard 'round the entire swamp.

* * *

)◯(

* * *

With just an hour left before the eclipse would end, giving way to daylight afternoon, the girls came upon a house near the feet of Mount Obukula. It was a rustic log cabin elevated a full story off the ground by stilts—a precaution against flooding and water damage. Yellow windows glowed welcomingly in the dark forest, and smoke rose from the chimney, signaling the house was currently occupied. But by whom?

The mercenaries crouched behind a bush overlooking the residence, debating their next course of action.

"Hey, that looks nice!" Fay exclaimed, tail wagging. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and exhaling. "Ahhh! That's a home-cooked meal if I ever smelled one."

Miyu extended an arm to hold her back. "Wait! What if they're pirates? We know they're out in this area, and they have a penchant for killing families and moving into their homes. We could be walking into a trap!"

"When have you ever known a pirate to cook that good? If it is a pirate, I'd turn myself in for a taste of that."

"Okay," Miyu conceded, "we'll check. But stay quiet until we confirm who's inside."

The girls left the bush and crept towards the raised dwelling. On their way over they passed what seemed like a forest garden, with well-pruned plants, vegetables, decorations, and tools lying about. Even the trees were decorated with makeshift ornaments; one tree carried an array of blue glass soda bottles hanging from its branches. Cornerian Cola, the labels read, an alternate name for Carbon Cola only seen outside of the manufacturers' home planet. The empty bottles swayed hypnotically in the breeze, catching the wind and emitting faint, musical moans. It sounded as if the blue bottles trapped wandering spirits inside.

They climbed the front stairs, careful to keep their feet next to the railing to minimize the chances of a board creaking. Once on the porch they stooped over and snuck to the nearest window, glancing inside through the yellow curtains.

Their fears were abated when they recognized a family of Aquans going about their daily life; no sign of pirates.

Miyu lead the way to the door, raised her fist, and shot one nervous look at Fay before delivering a sharp rap.

The voices inside hushed, and pairs of feet carrying different weights scampered across the cabin floor. After a few seconds of disconcerting silence, Miyu knocked again, this time using the "shave and a haircut" pattern. To her disappointment, the Aquans didn't give the appropriate response.

Instead, the door flew inwards and the girls jumped in surprise. In the doorway stood an adult Aquan brandishing a sawed-off in their faces. He was lime-green-skinned, with brown and gray stubble covering his lower jaw. He wore a pair of overalls—one strap hanging loose—underneath which were tan-colored long johns.

"Whaddu... whaddyu want?" His stammer betrayed the tough scowl on his face.

Miyu raised her hands. "Whoa! Cool your warp engines! We don't mean any harm!"

"Yeah, we're good guys!"

The Aquan jabbed the gun in their direction. "I know yer game. You can't pull one over on Briscoe J. Darling! They had to stop sending tax men out here, so they send you disarming women in disguise!"

"Honey!" his wife's voice came from the living room, "Are they from the gov'ment?"

"No!" Miyu barked. "No-no-no, we're just travelers looking for a place to stay! Citizens, just like you! ...And if it makes you feel any better, I haven't paid my taxes since I became eligible."

" _Keep_ them hands where I can see 'em, 'afore you go reaching for yer notebook and your awdits and levy notices and yer fancy ink pens. You ain't sneakin in here!"

Fay held her wounded arm closer for the Aquan to see. "But we're mercenaries, sir! We've been out all morning, searching the swamp for pirates. We were even attacked by a boa constrictor. Look, I got bit! We both were bit!"

At this point the wife clucked her lips and appeared from the living room. She stepped over to the doorway, heedless of her spouse's frantic gestures to keep clear.

"Ma, what in blazes yew think yer doin'?"

"Oh hush Briscoe, can't you see these poor girls are hurt?" she crooned with a rural accent thick with honey.

Over the wife's shoulder Miyu could see a pair of amphibian heads poking around the corner at the end of the hallway; they were two young Aquans, a boy and a girl, staring at them in wonderment and fear.

"I wouldn't let their kind in here e'en if'n they were dyin' of the measles."

"They ain't from the gov'ment anymore 'n you're a scientist man!"

Briscoe pursed his lips, staring his momentary prisoners up and down. Finally, he admitted, "Aw shucks, I guess you're right Ma. Ain't no snake this side of Badwash'd tech a tax man with a ten-foot poll—much less bite one."

He lowered his gun, resetting the safety and stepping back to let them in. "Uh, won't you girls make yourself at home? Let it never be said that Briscoe Darling turned away a pair o' needy guests from his doorstep."

Lowering their paws and exhaling, the girls stepped inside. "Thank you—both," Fay said as she entered behind Miyu.

The mother smoothed out her apron and curtsied a bit. "Think nothing of it child. And please, call me Ms. Becky. Won't you come into the living room?"

They entered a homely room with curtained windows overlooking the swamp. A pair of homemade lamps cast a warm glow over the furniture, ranging from hand-carved tables and shelves to antique-looking sofas and high-backed chairs. Ms. Becky sat in one of the latter, while Briscoe plopped down in a well-worn, sagging leather recliner. That left the loveseat for Miyu and Fay, who gratefully sat down, accompanied by popping bones and moans of relief. It sure felt good to sit down after a morning of wading through swamp water.

The mother was the first to speak. "I can only stay for a minute; I've got our lunch setup and waiting for me to cook. So... you say you're mercenaries? If you don't mind my pryin', where are you from, and what brings you to Badwash of all places?"

Miyu was content to rest up while Fay carried the conversation. "We're from Katina—at least, that's where I met Miyu. I'm Fay by the way. Fay MacDomhan. I know we're a little young to be mercenaries, but we're really passionate about our job. Both of us have wanted to fly since we were little. Miyu had the know-how and skill, but I had the resources and money. I come from a rich family, you see. I'm ashamed to say, but I'm a little spoiled and always used to getting my way, so there wasn't much my uncle could do to stop me from choosing this occupation."

"Rich family you say?" Briscoe slammed his fist on a lamp shade. "Then _both_ of our greatest enemies are tax men! Means we've got more in common than you think."

His wife noticed the two children poking their heads around the corner again. "Well don't just stand there and spy on our guests. Why don't you come in and meet some real live spacers!"

The kids ran into the room; they were only a few years younger than the girls, but had an air of naivety about them that made them look younger. The son wore nothing but a pair of overalls, while the pink-skinned girl wore a more proper sun-dress. It was already clear which sibling took after which parent.

"Fay, Miyu," the mother said, "meet the kids, Dudley and Amanda."

"Hello!" Fay waved her hand cheerfully.

The older son stood gaping at the foreign women, while Amanda asked, "Are you really from another planet?!"

"Yup! I was born on Corneria, and Miyu's from Katina. They sure are a lot different from Bayoon."

The mother stood up to leave. "Well, I gotta get lunch prepared. I'm cooking up a delicious pot of gumbo. Could I set two more plates at the table for you girls? I normally make enough to last us several days."

Miyu was tempted to decline out of pride, but their growling stomachs terminated that possible route. "Sure, if it wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience. I haven't had a home-cooked meal in ages."

"Gumbo?" Fay asked, "what's that?"

Briscoe chuckled. "Oh-ho, jus' wait'll you getta taste of Ma's seafood gumbo. Best durn gumbo in the county!"

Becky disappeared down the hallway, shortly followed by the sound of clanking kitchenware. In her absence, Briscoe kicked his feet up and grabbed a newspaper, which Fay viewed as a relic and couldn't stop gawking at it. Dudley flipped on and began tuning a centuries-old radio, and Amanda hopped into the chair her mother left, getting closer to the girls.

"Uh, Mr. Briscoe," Miyu began, "I think there's something we better warn you about. Your greatest enemy is not the tax collectors."

"They ain't?" Briscoe asked skeptically. He laughed, "Then who is?"

"Pirates. Space pirates, come from Sector Z." Miyu nodded to the radio Dudley was still trying to tune. "I don't how much you've heard from... the outside world, but the Badwash wilderness is crawling with them. They're not afraid to attack and kill families, either. We've seen them."

"You mean you girls have had contact with these here pirates?"

Fay nodded, somberly remembering the houseboat. "They essentially took us prisoner, and were shipping us up the river towards the mountain. But we escaped! I shot one myself!"

Briscoe smiled, his mustache twitching lively. "Yeah! That's givin' it to 'em! I'm a-likin' you girls more an' more. You say they've uh..." He glanced cautiously at his children. "...Done away with some neighbors? I pray to god it ain't anyone we know."

"They took a houseboat, down by Creeper's Rock," Miyu clarified.

Briscoe scratched at his stubble. "Well, I go down that ways a lot to sail to Badwash, an' I remember that shanty-boat you mention, but I can't say we were acquaintances. Still..." He closed his eyes and shivered. "That's purdy close by. Sends tickles up and down my spine. Whaddya suggest we do?"

Dudley finally found Badwash's local radio station. He cranked the volume now that the white noise was replaced by actual music. Bursting through the static came a shrew's voice, nasally crooning and wailing over chugging distorted guitars. Whenever he sung the highest, loudest notes, his voice strained and seemed to fry.

"Get out while you can." Miyu's tone was deathly serious. "They're looking for us as we speak. You should take your valuables and anything you need to live for a week, grab a skimmer, and travel to Badwash through the swamp. It's not the fastest way, but the pirates will be patrolling the river near Creeper's Rock."

"We'll leave after lunch," the Aquan agreed. "But, what 'bout you girls?"

Fay shared a look at Miyu before answering. "We're still headed for the mountain. Have to finish our mission, and that involves sneaking into their headquarters. If worse comes to worst, we'll draw them away from your family."

Briscoe whistled. "That's mighty brave, especially coming from girls as young as you. I'd feel ashamed to use you like that... but I got my family to worry about. I appreciate it, I really do."

Dudley's music was growing destractingly loud—enough to steal Miyu's focus for a minute. The shrew sang,

 _"I'm a closet cannibal  
A canine connoisseur  
I'll let you decide, raw or deep fried  
Or roasted, are you sure?"_

Snapping her attention back from the song, Miyu started, "We've also spotted some sort of glowing—"

But Fay slapped Miyu's leg, dealing her a warning glare.

The lynx quickly corrected herself. "That is, the pirates like painting themselves with phosphorescent yellow and stalking the swamp at night. Try to make the journey during the daylight hours of the afternoon. Beware of moving lights in the night."

Briscoe nodded, lost in thought. "Huh... That reminds me of the swamp monster that lives out there. Spotted it a few times myself, but it's an elusive little fella. Not sure I'd want to run into it, anyway."

 _"I'm a closet cannibal  
A feline 'ficionado  
While I devour, gagged with an apple  
Let's hear you scream falsetto"_

At this point the amphibian too grew distracted by the song. Puffing out his chest, he rebuked his son. "Dudley! How many times do I hafta tell ya, don't go a listenin' to that foreign rock 'n roll!"

"S-sorry Pa!" Dudley quickly spun the tuner dial, without concern for where it landed.

"You know the devil's music turns your brain to jello! Why If it weren't illegal, I'd roll up my sleeves, march up the mountain to that radio station and punch the disc jockey right in the nose!"

Miyu's ears perked up, aiming towards the Aquan like satellite dishes. "You say there's a radio station on the mountain?"

"Yup: Badwash's only local station. The rest we get from Portside, the closest city to Badwash—on the opposite side o' the lake. Mount Obukula's the best place around for a radio station. We get it nice and clear at the foot of the mountain."

"DJ Okarin hasn't said much today," Dudley said. "Usually he announces who plays the songs, but he hasn't said a word all day. I hope he's not sick."

"I hope he gets the parasites n' dies, so he stops infecting the minds of you young 'uns with those poisonous radio waves a-comin' down from the mountain. Ah still think they's tryin' to mind-control you youngsters with their demonic rhythms and invisible waves. Now son, why don't you forsake that wicked rock 'n roll and listen to some real, wholesome music? Like Badwash bluegrass?" And without prompting, he whipped out an acoustic guitar and began tuning it.

Miyu's back arched as if something frightened her, and she grabbed Fay's paw. "Well, we've been hiking in the dirty swamp all day," she announced, "so we should probably freshen up before lunch. Come on, Fay!"

Fay didn't protest. She gladly followed Miyu out into the hall and towards the kitchen, escaping the grating noise. Upon stepping into the kitchen, they were hit by a wall of appetizing scents that made them remember just how hungry they were. At first Miyu just stood in the doorway, mouth watering as she tried to sneak a glance into the massive pot jittering on the stove. But as Fay and then Amanda crowded behind her, she remembered her original objective.

"Say, Ms. Becky, is there any place Fay and I could wash up before lunch? Like a bath or a shower?"

Scrapping some shellfish from a platter into the pot, she answered, "Why sure! You just grab some towels and soap from the bathroom and make your way down south. The swamp's close by."

Miyu shared a look of disgust with Fay. "No, you see, we want to wash the swamp _off_. Like in a bathtub, or somewhere with tap or septic water?"

The Aquan lady was barely paying attention as she stirred the pot. "Well, that's how we take our baths around here; in the swamp. If it's good enough for the Darlings, it should be good enough for you." After turning around to find another cooking utensil, she laid eyes on them for a second time. "Oh! I forgot, you two probably aren't used to life out here beyond the black stump. Let's see... there are some salt springs further up the mountain."

"Sounds absolutely blissful!" Fay cheered.

"It's a hike though; you won't make it back in time for lunch."

The spaniel's ears drooped. "Aww..."

"As a last resort, I could boil some well water and fill a tub with it outside. It'll have to be after lunch though; I need the stove for the gumbo, and there's only about ten minutes till lunch is ready. Which reminds me..."

Locating a wooden spoon, she placed her hands on her hips and frowned intimidatingly at Amanda, who cowered behind Miyu. "You young lady should have been helping me this whole time! Get on an apron and help me with this gumbo, 'fore I have Pa spank you."

"Aw dang it Ma!" Amanda stamped her foot on the floor. "I just got to meet real life spacers!"

"Amanda!" her mother scolded. "I'll have none of that foul language in this house! Now you just march yourself up those stairs and wash your mouth out with soap this instant!"

Amanda scowled at the floor, head drooping as she turned around. "Okay."

"Wait, what's the problem?" the lynx asked, miffed at the injustice taking place before her. "All she said was d—" But Fay elbowed her just in time. Realizing it was best not to challenge Ms. Becky in front of her daughter, she chose to just play along. "Your mom's right Amanda. As a mercenary, if you talked back to someone with that kind of foul language on another planet, they'd shoot ya!"

Amanda perked up, eyes widening. "Really?"

Miyu patted her back. "Come on girl, I'll tell you all about it while we clean our mouths out. I've never tasted soap before..."

The girls exited the kitchen, leaving a nervous Fay at the hands of Ms. Becky. She jumped a little when the Aquan handed her Amanda's apron.

"Oh, uh, is this for me?"

Ms. Becky nodded. "Well come on girl, make yourself useful and grab that crawfish. He ain't gonna crawl out of that shell all by himself."

On the second floor of the cabin, Miyu and Amanda crowded into the Darling's single bathroom, huddling around the sink and mirror.

"So, how do you do this?" Miyu asked. "Do you put some on your toothbrush and scrub around your mouth? Oh I forgot, frogs don't have teeth."

"Yes I do!" Amanda said, hopping up and down. "Boy, you spacers are dumb! Lookee here!" She stuck a finger into her mouth, pulling her lips back. Sure enough, a single row of short, pointed teeth ran around the inside of her top gum. They were actually more startling and threatening than Miyu would have thought.

"Oh, you do have teeth. For some reason I just always thought... I mean I've never seen frog teeth."

"Whaddya think we eat?"

Miyu shrugged. "I dunno. Marshmallows, apparently."

Amanda giggled in response. "That's one of your off-worlders' foods, isn't it? I bet you get around a lot. You have spaceships, right?"

"Yup, we have two Katinese interceptors." Miyu raised the bar of grimy soap to her muzzle, grimacing as she examined it. "Don't have a lot of armor, but they're fast as he—fast as heck, I mean."

"How many planets have you been to? Do you travel and see new places a lot?" There was a glow in Amanda's eyes as she stood on her tiptoes to look at Miyu.

The lynx stared at her over the bar of soap. "Well, I was born on Katina, which is much dryer than Bayoon where you live. I've been to Corneria, Aquas, Zoness to see Fay's summer home, and Papetoon to apply for another team. Didn't work out though, which is why we're here. Hey, have uh, you ever considered leaving home and becoming a mercenary? Want to fly a ship of your own?"

Amanda shrunk at the thought. "Oh, I really want to... but I don't want to leave Mom and Dad and Dudley, and they don't want me to leave, either. I want to see all those different planets and fly through the stars in my own ship, but I'd be too lonely. I'd get homesick awful fast."

Miyu snorted. "Ha, well, that's kids for ya. Always too scared to leave the nest. I'll tell ya, I became a mercenary so I could get as far away from my home as possible." She opened her mouth and began to taste the soap.

"What?!" Amanda exclaimed. "Why's that?"

"Because home is where I made a lot of unpleasant—aww, yuck!" Miyu spat out a mouthful of soap and water into the washbasin. Her tongue demanded she wash the bitter, stinging flavor out, but there wasn't anything to exorcise it besides water.

"Alright shrimp, I did it. Your turn for punishment!"

* * *

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* * *

They soon came down the steps to meet a heavenly, home-cooked Bayoon meal, which Fay miraculously did not ruin by having a hand in it. The main course was a giant, steaming pot of gumbo: the works. Crayfish, shrimp, muscles, and other shellfish crowded together on islands of rice like herds of sheep trapped in a flood. The rising tides were a thick soup that saturated the rice and acted as a gravy for the rest of the seafood. Red chili peppers that reminded Miyu of Stephen's hood ornament, as well as other zesty Cajun spices and seasoning added an extra explosion of flavor that complicate the drowning sheep metaphor.

Miyu and Fay ate until their stomachs almost burst, only stopping when it became physically impossible to continue. And yet, even with the four Darlings helping, the pot was only half empty by the end of lunch. This was a mistake, as Pa Darling announced he would make ice cream before they packed up to leave. Miyu had fond memories of homemade ice desserts, but Fay was completely alien to the dish. For both, it would be a treat.

While Pa made the ice cream, which he churned in a wooden bucket-looking contraption, Ms. Becky and the children helped the girls fill the bathtub with hot water. Miyu went first while Fay stayed inside to watch the father craft the dessert. The disembodied porcelain tub sat behind the house, enclosed between the back wall and short cliffs—the beginning geology of the mountain. Since the Darlings had no hot-water plumbing, they were never able to hook the tub up to anything inside, and thus it remained outdoors. Miyu felt a strong sense of paranoia bathing outside, and a little fear; when Fay and the children left her alone, she constantly felt herself staring at the shadows beyond the reach of the lamp. Any number of threats could be lurking out of view, from non-threatening bugs, to dangerous wild animals, pirates, and whatever those two swamp monsters were. But with the coming of dawn and the brightening sky, her fears slowly abated. She let those worries melt off into the warm water, along with the rest of the dirt and grime she'd picked up in the Badwash wilderness.

Priding herself in how efficiently she cleaned—in deliberate contrast to Fay, who could take hours—Miyu climbed out of the tub and dried off. She shivered in the early afternoon air, but quickly got her clothes back on. She felt uncomfortable and a little disappointed that she didn't have a fresh set of clothes to slip into, but this wasn't exactly a luxury trip.

With the peach-colored afternoon sky lighting the way, Miyu rounded the cabin, climbed the stairs, and let herself back in through the front door. As the screen door slammed shut with a bang, she called, "Alright, I've come for the ice-cream! You gluttonous kids better not have eaten all of it!"

In answer, Miyu heard the slapping of webbed feet, and Amanda rounded the kitchen corner, carrying a glass dish. "Here it is, Miyu!" She slid to a stop in front of the mercenary, presenting the dish to her like a royal cup-bearer.

"Thanks, kiddo. I see you have more self-control than—" Miyu abruptly cut herself off, staring down at the glass bowl shining in Amanda's pink hands.

The ice cream glowed yellow.

Miyu stared flatly at the dessert, ignoring Amanda's expectant posture. She did, however, pick up on the yellow stain covering her face.

"Where's Fay?!"

"W-what?"

She rudely pushed past Amanda, hurrying down the hall. The feline burst through the kitchen door, surprising Ms. Becky and the rest of the occupants. Fay looked up from the table, startled. "Miyu?"

Miyu's stomach dropped through a trap door. In one hand, Fay held a similar glass bowl of ice cream; in the other, a ravaged spoon raised halfway to her face. Miyu zeroed in on her lips, which were similarly stained yellow.

Rushing over, she firmly pried the spoon from the spaniel's paws, slung it into the ice cream, and shoved the bowl across the table.

"Miyu! What's gotten into you?!"

She grabbed Fay's arm and pulled her out of the chair, marching her through the kitchen door and back outside. The Darlings protested Fay's removal, initially following. They stopped in the middle of the hallway when they ran into Amanda, who looked like she was crying. Miyu didn't care; she was too focused on Fay.

Once outside she spun Fay around to face her, grabbing her hands. "How much did you eat?!"

"Miyu, I don't understand, it's just ice cream! What do you have against—"

The feline screwed her eyes shut. Grimacing, she looked down and shook her head. "No, no, no! This can't be happening!"

"Miyu, you're scaring me! Now tell me what's the matter."

Though she kept physical contact with Fay's hands, she had to look away into the mists rising from Badwash's swamp. "That ice cream—it's the same color and glows exactly like those monsters I told you about."

Miyu felt Fay's hands tense when she mentioned the creatures. "Oh, is _that_ all this is about? Look, I totally know what it's like to wake up with weird, traumatizing dreams and having to adjust to a completely different reality, but—"

"Fay, listen!" Miyu clasped her hands tighter and shook them. "A transport crashed in the swamp, and it was carrying large amounts of this glow-in-the-dark yellow food-coloring."

"But Mr. Darling explained! He said that's what they normally use during the festival—they color all their food with it!"

"Oh yeah? Well does it also turn whoever eats it into _savage monsters?!_ " She shook Fay harder. "How did I know how much the docking fare was? How did I find the pirate's hideout so easily, or know in the first place that there even _was_ such a food coloring— _before_ the Darling's showed it to us? Huh?! What do you say to that, Fay?!"

At this point Fay was whimpering and close to tears. "I-I don't know..." She looked down, sniffing. "You're scaring me, Miyu!"

The sound of shattering glass reached them from inside the house.

" _Amanda!"_ they heard Ms. Becky's muffled scream. As sounds of a struggle also reached them, they turned to run back inside.

They found Mr. Darling and Dudley struggling to contain Amanda, who was thrashing about wildly, her face always hidden from them.

"What's wrong?!"

"Dammit Amanda!" Mr. Darling swore through clenched jaws. "What's gotten into you? Why don't you just sit still?!"

Working together, Briscoe and Dudley managed to drag the flailing pink Aquan into the living room, where they sat her down in her mother's high-backed chair.

"Becky!" Mr. Darling called, "get me some rope, quick!"

The girls parted for Ms. Becky as she raced out and momentarily back in, coils of rope over her shoulder. Briscoe took it from her, shoving Amanda into place with his foot while he slung the rope in thick loops around her torso. While he held her in place, Dudley tied the rope behind the chair with little calm.

His handiwork complete, Mr. Darling stepped back. He cradled his left arm gingerly, blood filling up a single crescent of teeth marks.

"Ow! Now what'd she go and do that fer?! Girl hasn't bitten me since she was seven..."

Miyu and Fat stared at Amanda, who was finally unobscured by her grappling father and brother.

She was someone else entirely. Her pupils had grown huge and seemed to take in everything at once with ravenous hunger. Her lips pulled back to expose her top row of bloodied teeth, and her jaw was stained with even more coloring that Miyu could have sworn wasn't there before. She threw herself against the restraints as one possessed, which seemed to be how the rest of the Darlings were taking it.

But Miyu knew the truth. She rushed over to the Darlings, warning, "I've seen this before!"

Mr. Darling stared hard at her, distrust and concern dueling in his eyes. "You... you have? Tell me, what the hell is going on with my daughter?!"

"It's the food-coloring; it causes whoever eats it to turn!"

"Turn? Turn to what?!"

Miyu pointed out the window at the breaking dawn. "Into one of those things! The creatures that prowl the forest at night!"

Briscoe gulped hard. "You mean a swamp monster?" he asked in a whisper. Grabbing Miyu's shoulders, he pleaded, "You have to tell me how to cure it! Please!"

"I-I don't know! I've only ever killed them!"

Ms. Becky's scream suddenly emanated from the hallway, interrupting them. The girls rushed outside the living room, finding the mother trapped between the front door and her son. She was fending him off with much difficulty, calling desperately for help. Dudley beat her with his webbed fists and tried to sink his teeth into her neck, but she was putting up too much of a fight. He growled and gurgled, ignoring his mother's pleas to stop.

Miyu shared a glance with Fay before whipping out her blaster, training it on Dudley. Fay did nothing but cover her face with her hands, though they both were caught in indecision.

Before Miyu had to fire Briscoe squeezed past them, carrying an old hunting rifle that had been mounted on the fireplace mantle. Rather than fill his son full of buckshot, he grabbed the rifle by the barrel and brought the wooden end crashing down on his head. A loud crack sounded, and Dudley crumpled to the floor, taking some of his mother's skin with him. Mr. Darling towered over the other Aquans, shoulders heaving. As he calmed his testosterone, he dropped the gun next to Dudley and staggered back, using the wall for support. Both of the girls were too scared to check if either of them were okay, or even if the son was still breathing.

Slowly, Briscoe turned around. When he came to face them, they haunted Miyu with deep black holes that seemed to be bored through his eyes. He was breathing erratically, and swaying to and fro. Mrs. Darling was similarly quiet.

" _He ate some too,"_ Fay whispered. _"They all did!"_

Miyu once again raised her blaster. "Mr. Darling, are you okay?"

The Aquan pushed off the wall, hunched and staggering like a drunk, but intensely focused on them.

"Don't come any closer, or I'll shoot!"

He didn't heed her warning. Briscoe—or what used to be Briscoe—took several more halting steps towards them. Each one was increasingly faster and steadier.

Miyu nudged Fay backwards with her shoulder. "Up the stairs, now!" The rest of the Darlings were blocking the front door, which, as far as Miyu knew, was the only exit.

When she heard Fay hurrying up the steps behind her, Miyu pulled the trigger, placing a searing round of energy into Briscoe's leg. He tumbled over, falling to his knees, but otherwise ignoring the pain. Miyu had expected to see more of the yellow chemical gushing from the wound, but there wasn't any; there was just a stream of red blood, surrounded by sizzling flesh.

Behind the Aquan Ms. Becky pushed herself off the door, going through the same series of conniptions and fractured, halting actions as her husband. Dudley likewise stirred on the floor, and Miyu realized they were outnumbered for the second time that day. When none of the Darlings stopped falling towards her, she turned and climbed up the steps, slipping once on the last one.

At the end of the upstairs hallway, she saw Fay gesturing for her to follow.

"Quick, in here!" she held the master bedroom door open for Miyu.

The lynx recovered from falling and sprinted across the hall. Once inside, Fay slammed the door shut behind her, and they both lay against it. They closed the door just in time to hear a super-Lylatian creature gallop across the wood floor, and a powerful force impacted the door against their backs. It slid open a foot, throwing the girls forward as well, but they recovered and pushed the door back. Miyu shoved the bolt lock into place, her eyes frantically jumping about the room for objects to barricade it with. She threw herself on a hand-crafted dresser, scooting it across the floor until it covered the door. Gasping for breath, she looked around for Fay, who was trying to get the window open.

"Fay, where are you going?! If you jump from this height you'll break your legs, and the Darlings will run you down with no problem!"

"I'm not doing this to escape," Fay let out in a frightened sob. Finally getting the window open, she turned around to face Miyu, revealing trails of tears dampening her face. "I'm doing this for your own good!"

Realizing the canine's intentions, Miyu stormed across the room and grabbed her before she could climb out and fall. "Nonsense! You're staying right here with me."

"But I'll turn just like _they_ did!" Fay cried. "I ate that stupid—"

"If it comes over you, just fight it!" Miyu shouted.

"Will... will it pass?"

"Huh?"

Fay wiped at her tears with her sleeve. "If you tie me down like Amanda, will the sickness just... _go away_ after a while?"

Miyu cast her gaze down to the floor, remembering the two monsters completely enveloped in the polymorphic substance.

"I... I don't know," she lied. "But I have a plan to escape! If we get that mattress out the window, we can jump on it to cushion our fall. Come on, help me get the mattress off the bed!"

Fay followed her to the bed, and they both began tearing pillows and sheets off of it. Having separated the mattress from the rest of the coverings, they hoisted it off the bed frame and dragged it over the window. The sound of fracturing wood and louder growls gave them pause, and they looked to the door. Mr. Darling had smashed through one of the panels and was flailing a webbed hand through the opened slat.

"Get this out there, now!" Miyu ordered. Drawing her blaster again, she marched to the door and took aim through the thin slat. What was left of Briscoe took up the majority of the opening, but behind him the lynx could see Ms. Becky and Dudley impatiently pushing and beating on him. Amanda was nowhere to be seen, mostly likely still strapped to the chair in the living room.

Raising the blaster to meet her eye, she stared down the sights at Mr. Darling. Only then did she become conscious of how frenetically her heart beat. It was so powerful it seemed to shake her gun in her hands.

Taking aim, she let a bolt fly into the Aquan's head. A wet smack followed the usual energy discharge, and Briscoe's head snapped backwards. But rather than fall down, his head sank forward and he fixed her with a spiteful grin, unshaped by the gaping bloody hole in his head.

Before Miyu could squeeze the trigger again, she heard Fay's cries begin to turn ugly. They were choked and gurgled out of her throat like the Aquans' foul noises, but she was clearly still frightened and struggling against the change.

Whirling around, Miyu checked Fay's condition—just in time to catch her vomit up a stream of the phosphorescent liquid.

"Fay!"

The sobs that had once wracked her body now turned into contortions. Her teammate doubled over, wrapping her arms around her stomach. Coughing up more of the chemical, she raised her head and stared at Miyu with empty, iris-less eyes.

"No, Fay, you have to fight it!"

As the spaniel lurched closer to her, Miyu found herself in a position she never would have imagined herself in as long as she lived.

She found herself raising her own blaster at Fay.

The gun shook even more than before, and Miyu couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger just yet. The closer Fay drew the further Miyu stumbled backwards, until she was pressed up against the dresser. Still Fay did not halt, heedless of the deadly blaster aimed her way.

"Please, Fay!" It was Miyu's turn to sob now, with Fay's ghostly fur glowing in her tear-soaked eyes.

She climbed backwards onto the dresser, her back pressed against the door. Ms. Becky and Dudley screamed louder while Briscoe tore at her jacket with the hand he already had through the door. He tried to get his fat head through as well, but was unable to bite her.

The spaniel fell on her legs, head lolling on Miyu's lap before she stared back up at her with those giant, vacant pupils the size of twin eclipses.

Miyu lowered the gun to Fay's head. "Fay," she whispered, "don't make me do this..."

The canine's maw flashed open, exposing sparkling teeth. Showing no sign of recognizing her friend she sank them into Miyu's side, tearing away a mouthful of flesh. Miyu screamed at the top of her lungs as burning hot magma seemed to fill the hole Fay left. She could feel her lifeblood already pouring from the wound, soaking her shirt.

" _FAAAAAY!"_ she screamed in desperation.

It was now more clear than ever that Miyu had to choose between shooting her friend or dying to her. But try as she might, she couldn't bring herself to pull that trigger.

The edges of her vision flooded with shadows, and she felt her grasp on the blaster going weak. She dropped the gun, her arms falling limp at her sides. Releasing the tension in her body, she gave in, and let the monster that was Fay consume her.

As she was devoured by her teammate, a golden shaft of light beamed in through the window, and Miyu stared back at the eye of the cruel after-eclipse dawn.

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 _*F#cking read_ Attack on Cerinia


	7. Carnival

**Chapter 7: Carnival**

* * *

 _Warm clouds and leaf-filled branches obscured the glowing sun. Miyu lay on the forest hillside again, surrounded by thin, scraggly aspens. Blades of grass poked up into her back, making the urge to itch irresistible. Beside her, only a few feet away, lay her sister Lily. Both of the lynxes stared up at the sky, silently letting the afternoon pass. At the top of the hill was what remained of their picnic: a blanket dusted with crumbs, an open basket, and a radio playing unobtrusive music._

 _It was a peaceful afternoon. The harsh Katinese sun was blunted, the wind gently blew a cool breeze through their fur, and the nearby creek babbled mindlessly away._

 _Soon the clouds parted like a curtain, and the rays of the sun sliced through. They initially blinded Miyu, who flinched and covered her eyes with her arms. She was also aware of a black shadow rushing through the grass, almost like the sun had summoned a breeze there, but the leaves on the aspens didn't rustle._

 _Lily broke the silence. "Do you ever have the feeling like... like you're being watched?"_

 _Miyu's arms fell from her eyes, and she looked worriedly down the hill, back through the trees._

 _The radio exploded with deafening static._

 _A gust of wind swept in, stirring the yellow leaves into a violent whirlwind that surrounded them._

 _The cargo transport dipped to the side, then fell and impacted the forest miles away._

 _Lily cried out in pain._

 _At once Miyu sat up, as if waking from a bad dream. She spun around to her sister, who lay paralyzed and crying on the hillside. A black asp was poised on her torso, head emerging with bloodied fangs from her neck._

 _Miyu scrambled to her side. She timidly grabbed the lower portion of the snake's body, but recoiled when its head spun around to face her. A sickly, pale yellow underbelly clashed with its olive scales. A coffin-shaped head stared back at her, jaw hanging wide to expose the purple-black interior of its mouth and its curved fangs. Above all, Miyu found herself drawn to the pair of golden halos in the snake's eyes that gradually soaked her with fear._

 _When Lily began to twitch and contort beneath Miyu, she attempted to grab the snake a second time. She managed to catch the lower coils of the snake, but failed to snatch the neck below its head. It sprang at her, but instead of biting it darted around her neck, effectively entangling her. While her sister entered a series of death throws Miyu violently clawed at any of the snake's coils she could find. She opened her mouth wide, summoning a deep force of air from her chest..._

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Miyu sat bolt-upright in her pilot's seat, screaming at the top of her lungs.

She was back in the _Sveno._ Through the canopy she could once again see the blinding blue sky of Bayoon, the wooden docks extending out over the lake, and Badwash's brightly-colored buildings. It was morning again—the _same_ day.

Her hands were entangled in fibrous coils, and when she ran out of breath from crying out, she looked down at them. She was only holding the Aquan necklace, the black strand of which was looped once around her neck.

" _Oh in the morning  
_ _When the Sun  
_ _Fixes you with its golden rays  
_ _I have a sneakin'  
_ _Suspicion  
_ _It's secretly an evil gaze"_

There was that annoying song again. Because she left her radio on before she went to sleep she would likely hear it each time she died and woke up. Miyu slumped back into her chair, taking a deep breath and exhaling. It was only a dream again, no matter how vivid and tangible it felt. Though why did she have two dreams in a row, and about the same memory?

She held the Aquan pendant in her paw. Rubbing the smooth surface with her thumb, she stared at the hand-shaped shell and her reflection trapped within. Her miniature, ghostly outline stared back, looking just as bewildered as herself.

"' _Cause you're the only jewel I see  
_ _Yeah you're the only jewel I see  
_ ' _Cause you're the only jewel I see_

 _Jewel I see"_

Something tapped against the glass. The feline looked up. Leering at her from the other side of the windshield was a monstrous white canine; black lips curled back to expose rows of thick, pointed teeth all bared and gnashed in a vicious snarl at her.

Miyu jumped back, dropping the pendent, but upon her second look the beast was gone. In its place was Fay, cupping her eyes to the glass so she could see in. Miyu breathed easily again and popped the canopy open, eagerly jumping outside.

"Why so jumpy?" Fay luaghed when she dismounted. "You should have seen the look on your—"

Miyu cut Fay off with a hug of her own. This time it was Fay's turn to be taken off-guard; Miyu rarely initiated a hug. "Whoa there, what's this for? Not that I mind..." Sensing it was no time for a joke, Fay returned the hug. She could feel Miyu was upset.

"Fay... we need to talk."

Before her teammate could object, she snatched her paw and dragged her across the dock. Miyu rushed Fay through what was quickly becoming a ritual; secure their ships, meet Jeff and the pig at the ticket booth, hand over twenty credits, and leave for the restrooms. Less rattled than the time before, Miyu paid careful attention to how she went about things; she made blatantly obvious to Fay that she knew events would happen before they did. Though Fay was amazed time and time again, Miyu refused to answer any questions just yet.

After coming out of the public restrooms, Miyu realized she had forgotten one small detail; the Aquan hag. Last time she had managed to avoid a confrontation with her, meaning she wasn't at the forefront of Miyu's mind this time around. She did, however, exit the restrooms at the same time as Fay.

Back outside in the blinding daylight, the old witch seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Same peach-colored skin, tangled hair, wild eyes, and plant-fiber skirt. Fay _eep-_ ed a little at running into the frightening woman, but Miyu stepped between them, trying to cover her blunder before it was too late.

"Sorry Fay, I forgot. This granny thinks we're some kind of chosen ones come to save Bayoon from... something kinda nebulous, I think. What was it?"

"The people of Bayoon are enslaved!" the witch croaked, waving a hand uncomfortably close to Fay's face.

"Oh, a-are they now?" Fay stammered.

"You, the off-worlders, the saviors from beyond the stars, are the only ones who can break evil's hypnotizing gaze!"

"I think that part of her spiel is new," Miyu commented. She was taken aback when the frog reached into her leather bag and pulled out a pair of necklaces, hanging from which were what looked like red chili peppers. They looked strangely familiar.

"Here, these will keep you safe!"

Miyu was going to stop her, but Fay shrugged and bent over to receive the necklace. The elderly Aquan hopped at just the right time to place the necklace around Fay's bowed head. When she straightened back up, Fay palmed the pepper in her hand. "Hey, the red matches my bow!"

Miyu sighed but resigned herself to do the same, now that Fay was pressuring her. She bent over to let the witch adorn her with the necklace, but never felt her place it around her neck. She tilted her head up slightly.

The wrinkly-skinned frog stared at something already dangling from her neck, something which actually made her eyes focus for once; the shell pendent.

"Error, crazy Aquan lady dot-exe has stopped working," Miyu joked. "What's the matter?"

The hag extended a webbed digit to touch the dangling shell, but chickened-out at the last second and withdrew her finger. "You... you _are_ the chosen one!"

"Oh, so you admit you were lying to us before?"

The witch reached into her bag and pulled out a stack of flyers, peeling a few off for the girls. She handed them over, one each to Miyu and Fay, with the extras blowing away in the lake breeze. Miyu looked down at the flyer, and was miffed to see it advertised the woman as a native fortune-teller. _Chashme Baddoor: the Oracle of the Nethermoor._ _Palm-reading, tarot cards, audience with the dead, crystal_ _-_ _gazing, evil eye protection..._ Basically any and all functions associated with the occult were advertised as part of her repertoire. All listed on a gaudy purple background with stock photos of common magical items.

"Find me at the blue-and-yellow-striped tent—between the belly-dancers and the clown bean-bag toss. Ah-he-he-he!"

With a whirl of her grass skirt and shawl, Chashme Baddoor spun 'round and hopped down the steps to the beach—bombing an unsuspecting couple with another batch of flyers.

"So..." Fay trailed off as both girls watched her slowly fade into the distance, "I guess we're going to stay far away from the blue-and-yellow tent?"

"Exactly," Miyu agreed. "But she's got the right idea. We need somewhere to talk, and I'm starving. Why don't we visit the festival?"

Fay lit up brighter than an ion engine. "Wait, you mean we can?! Awesome!"

"But don't get too distracted with the games and rides," Miyu warned.

"Alright-alright, let's go!"

Following behind Chashme— _extremely_ far behind Chashme—the girls descended the wharf and walked along the beach a ways. Turning inland they walked up a flight of wooden stairs that carried them onto the fairgrounds. From the docks it was easier to see the festival for what it was: a deceptively small affair of tents, stands, and carts populating an extensive green field. But once they were inside the carnival it felt like getting lost in a psychedelic city. The myriads of posters, flashing light displays, foods, and prizes all shone in multi-colored glory—the overall effect hypnotizing. Even the bright colors of the Aquan's skin paled in comparison. A modestly-sized Ferris wheel towered over the rest of the buildings, close to which were also a merry-go-round of spacecraft and a sprawling tunnel of love complex which wasn't running yet. With the amount of lights and glowing signs popping from every nook and cranny in the three attractions, Miyu was sure they would make for a brilliant spectacle come eclipse.

While some of Badwash's residents were still in the midst of constructing their stations others had already opened for business. After traversing enough of the festival, Miyu and Fay started picking up on peculiar customs. One common game involved throwing old, beaten-up shoes onto poles—catching them by the mouth. Judging by the signs above the stations, the game was called jutti. Children paid a few cents for the chance to throw a pair of shoes, and if they landed both they won a prize. The more successes they chained together the more valuable the prize they could choose; ranging from candies at the lower tiers to more expensive toys and even electronic equipment. At first the girls didn't understand how it was possible to win. But once as they were passing a jutti booth they witnessed an older child land two in a row. The trick was to place a slight spin on the shoes before throwing them, so that they looped once before catching the pole at the right angle.

Another popular attraction for the children were piñatas. Families setup pavilions where they could hang paper mache creations. They most commonly depicted Bayoon itself, and were either covered in blue and green paint or constructed with colored papers and thinner tissues. Miyu found this strange, as the process involved beating the shit out of them before disemboweling them of candy and treats. Why symbolically destroy your own planet? And for what, candy? She would never understand Bayoon's customs.

After passing a pavilion of Aunt Sally's Pecan Pralines they arrived at a raw seafood bar. The tent was setup close to the shore, and from that vantage point Miyu could see Aquans digging in the muddy sand and combing the brackish waters for food. At least there was no doubt the food was fresh. _Old Man Vibrio's Raw Mollusks!_ the sign above the front read. Since their main intent of visiting the fair was to get food, Miyu dragged Fay over.

The front of the pavilion featured a long row of tables holding crates, pans, and steel troughs of ice, on top of which lay all kinds of raw seafood, though mostly double-shelled mollusks. Shells in different patterns and shapes rested shivering on the ice, including oysters, clams, mussels, scallops, cockles, and a few species that seemed native to Bayoon, since Miyu didn't recognize them. Behind the tables Aquans worked on unpacking the seafood, separating them from the shells, and arranging platters and combos.

Fay took one look at the oysters sitting in their half-shells and crinkled her nose. "What kind of alien creatures do they serve for food here?"

"Those are just oysters, Fay—before you cook 'em."

"Um, yuck?"

Miyu cocked her head back on her shoulders. "What, you've never had them before?"

"I've never even had cooked ones."

"What? Your family is rolling in money! Rich people eat shit like this all the time!"

Fay looked like she was getting sick just thinking about it. "Only on business trips, and I've never had an appetite for those kinds of dishes. I don't like escargot or caviar or eels or... any of that icky stuff."

"Icky?" Miyu grabbed one of the shells and raised it to Fay's face, making the canine lean away. "What's so icky about this?"

The spaniel stared down at the glob of flesh and lake salt sitting on the half-shell. From the look of her she was trying to figure out whether or not it was dead. "Well... it's not even cooked, so you could get all kinds of diseases from it. And it's got this milky brown color, it's semi-transparent, it looks like an alien larvae that was removed from cryo a tad too soon."

"You Cornerians are just delicate little flower blossoms and pinky-pointers." Miyu shook her head and replaced the shell on the ice tray. "All of these are delicacies back on Katina. I would _kill_ for some of this stuff. Like look at this!" She next picked up a horn-shaped shell, out of which flopped a thick, tubular siphon appendage that was twice as long as the shell itself. Fay jumped a little, to which Miyu just laughed. "These cornicellos cost hundreds of credits back home, but that's because they're expensive to import. Here on Bayoon? They're only twelve credits a kilo!"

Fay covered her nose. "Oh please Miyu, you're not going to eat that!"

"Come on Fay, don't you want to make me happy? This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for me! I may never be able to eat one of these bad-boys again."

"Well, if you put it like that... okay, I'll pay for it."

" _Yes!_ " Miyu slapped the cornicello as well as a single raw clam on the scale. "We'll take these, please!"

Fay became worried at the sight of the clam. "H-hey! Who's that for?!"

A strong amphibian with sky-blue skin and an apron came over to the register. "You sure you want this, ma'am? Cornicellos are natural aphrodisiacs!"

Miyu waved a dismissive paw. "Like there's any truth to _that_ myth. What do we owe you?"

After weighing the mollusks separately, the Aquan calculated the price and Fay handed over her credit chip. The seller (could it have been Uncle Vibrio himself?) shortly gave the card back and passed the shellfish over on two paper plates with some utensils. "Enjoy! And don't eat that cornicello anywhere near them fine handsome Bayoon boys!"

"Oh don't worry, Fay will hold me back. Right Fay?"

Fay giggled a little, but didn't respond—the inside joke being their aversion to amphibian males, but it wouldn't do to insult them in front of the seller. Instead they walked a few feet from the pavilion, where Miyu passed the clam over to Fay.

"Aww, do I _have_ to eat this?"

"You'll eat it and you'll like it; trust me. And don't gulp it down either—you have to chew on it to release the flavor."

Fay pried the clam shell open, revealing the unformed alien embryo she was talking about earlier. "Ohhh my god. This is why I can't do horror movies."

"Go on, scoop it out with the fork. It's just one clam! I'd make an entire meal from just raw shellfish."

Fay held onto the plate and the shell with one paw while using the fork to skewer the meat with the other. The globe of gelatinous flesh wobbled on Fay's shaking fork all the way to her mouth. She shoved her eyes closed and popped it in, chewing a few times before swallowing.

"And? How is it?"

Fay smacked her lips while timidly opening her eyes. "Well, it's not as awful as I thought it would be. Rather salty and sour? But it's the texture that's the worst part. It's all cold and slimy!"

" _That's_ how you know it's alive!" Miyu explained.

Fay's eyes widened. Her hand darted to her stomach. "Oh Miyu... it wasn't. Please tell me it wasn't!"

"Hah haaa..." Miyu chuckled evilly before going to work on her own shellfish. She found it difficult with a plastic knife, but she eventually managed to saw off a few bites of the cornicello's siphon. Closing her eyes too—but for a much different reason—she slid the first bite in her mouth and bit down.

" _Mmmm..."_

"You're _joking!_ "

"I am not!" Miyu lashed out with a full mouth, tossing in another slice. "This is honestly the best seafood I've ever tasted! Parts of it are crunchy, chewy, and soft. And it's got a salty and sweet flavor—almost like lobster, just with it's own unique taste."

"I'll take lobster over that _any_ day. Now can I have some _real_ food? Raw shellfish don't agree with my stomach; especially not the first thing in the morning."

"Fine. I've got my meal, but let's get you something. Uh... looks like there's another food pavilion over there."

Fay's stomach growled. "Great! At this point I'll eat anything as long as it's cooked."

Miyu smiled. "It serves fried alligator, snake, and eel meat!"

The spaniel threw her paws up in the air. "Nope, I've lost it completely. It's gone; my appetite's gone!"

Miyu slapped her on the back, laughing. "Okay okay, there's a nice normal food tent to the left a bit. It looks like they serve food that can satisfy your picky appetite."

"Good, I'll get a nice safe hot dog and we can leave."

While the next pavilion didn't have hot dogs or other standard fare, Fay settled on a catfish sandwich with coleslaw. She bought Miyu a Cornerian Cola while buying a locally-squeezed lemonade for herself. Finding an open area populated by benches they sat down to eat—far away from any other fair-goers.

Fay bit into her sandwich, but waited until she swallowed to speak. "So, there was something urgent you wanted to tell me about?"

Miyu continued cutting slabs of the cornicello off and chewing on them. Through the juicy pieces filling her mouth she said, "I'm a time traveler."

Across from her, the spaniel spat out a mouthful of food, exploding in laughter. "You just wanted to get me down to Bayoon so we could eat, didn't you? Talk my tail!"

"No, Fay—"

"I see it now!" Fay laughed. "You needed an excuse to go to this carnival and make me buy you that cornicello. But, your plan's not as simple as that. You've been masterminding this for a while now! _Everything_ was a ploy to get that disgusting "delicacy"! Accepting the mission from Jetta Toré, "accidentally" letting Black Mamba escape, and casually suggesting we land here, in the middle of nowhere. Only it's _not_ the middle of nowhere. It's the center of cornicello haven!"

"Enough with the conspiracy theories!" But Miyu was unable to suppress a laugh. "Seriously Fay, listen. And don't interrupt!"

For the next few minutes Miyu relayed almost everything that had recently happened to her over the past two days that technically didn't even exist anymore—that had no longer happened. Though in the process she did leave out a few choice memories. Fay did as Miyu told, and kept quit through her entire story, carving away at her sandwich. But she did treat Miyu with a variety of negative facial expressions.

When Miyu was finished she took a few seconds to catch her breath. Then she asked, "Any questions?" before digging back into her cornicello.

"Just one," Fay said as she pointed with her plastic fork. "And it's a long one. So, you expect me to believe that we beat up a gang of pirates on speedboats, then I consumed some magical yellow ice-cream and ate you alive?!"

Miyu crossed her arms, having finished the last of the savory cornicello. "In short, yes."

"Proof?"

The lynx leaned closer, gesturing with her hands. "Can you tell me the name of this festival?"

Fay shook her head.

"Great, 'cause I know what it is. It's called the "Munzagoringu" festival."

Fay gave her a funny look. "So? You could have read that off a sign somewhere, and I just happened not to see it."

"Oh, right. Well, how 'bout this; I know there's a famous TV star that's currently eating breakfast at..." She trailed off, realizing that hadn't worked the first time. "Goddamn, here we go again. No wait, I know. I just proved that I have foresight several times just a few minutes ago. Remember when I predicted the fare for renting the dock space?"

"You could have looked that—"

"—Looked that up ahead of time, I know," Miyu finished for her. "Then how do you explain the crazy Aquan lady outside the bathroom?"

"You didn't predict that at all, she was already there before you said anything."

"But I knew she would think we were the chosen ones!"

"Maybe there's a crazy cult of Aquans around here that thinks every foreigner landing in a spaceship is a chosen one! There are tribes like that on Fortuna. Again, you could have researched that ahead of time!"

" _Grrrh!_ " Miyu slammed her fists down on the picnic table, drawing an array of glances from nearby citizens. "It's impossible!"

"Shh! Calm down!" Fay coaxed her. "From what you've told me, you managed to convince me you were telling the truth after you predicted the pirates' location. Right?"

Miyu buried her head in her hands. "Well, kind of. You were mostly confused and didn't know what to believe afterwards."

"Why can't you just take me out there again and show me? If they're there, I promise I'll believe everything you say!"

"I guess we _could_ go out there again..." Miyu lazily started. "But it's really dangerous. Both times we've ventured beyond the black stump we ended up dying! Very violently, I might add!"

" _You_ died both times," Fay pointed out, jabbing her fork. " _I_ survived the second time."

Miyu huffed. "Yeah, if you can call turning into a zombie and eating your best friend surviving. I'm not even sure what happens after you turn. I hope you're not still aware of what you're doing and trapped in that zombified body. It would be awful to wake up and see what you've done."

"Actually, since you're still alive right now, doesn't that mean _you_ survived both times?"

"Well, yeah—"

"That's awesome!"

Miyu finally raised her head, fixing Fay with a sleepy expression. "Wha?"

"You're invincible!" Fay exclaimed, grabbing her arm. "You've got nothing to fear from any pirates or swamp creatures or hungry zombies. No matter what happens to you you'll wake up back here. So why are you so worried about chasing the pirates again? What's the worst that could happen?"

Miyu stared into Fay's shining eyes. "I'd see you die again."

"Oh." Fay looked down at the scraps of food left on her plate. For a few awkward seconds she scraped around her coleslaw bowl, silent. Then, as an idea struck her, she raised her head and smiled brightly. "Well, I'm still here. As long as you come back I'll always be waiting for you."

Miyu opened her mouth to retort, but found no response. She hunched over and began playing with the cornicello shell dejectedly.

"Let's say you get killed again, and time resets. How do you convince me you're telling the truth?"

"I don't. It just plays out like this conversation again, and you're able to throw doubt on everything I tell you." Miyu was mumbling darkly at this point. "Unless I learn something new and am able to predict it next time around, nothing will change."

Fay climbed over the table a bit, getting closer to Miyu. She whispered, _"W_ _hat if I tell you a secret?"_

Miyu's ears perked. "A secret?"

"A secret that I've never told anyone before. What if you're able to repeat something to me about my own life that no one else has any business knowing? Wouldn't that work?"

"I mean I guess so... but you'd have to dig up something first."

Fay plopped back down on her bench. She looked off into space and scratched at one of her floppy ears. Finally she raised a triumphant finger.

""Hey there princess, need a hand?""

Miyu cocked her head. Fay had delivered the line in a suave manner, as if she were mimicking someone else's voice. "What?"

""Hey there princess; need a hand!"" Fay repeated. "That's the first thing James McCloud said when he rescued me."

"James McCloud... _rescued_ you?" Miyu asked in disbelief.

"That's a story for another time," Fay back-paddled, "but the relevant bits are that some hooligans tossed me in a suitcase and tried to ransom me back to my uncle. He hired Star Fox and they rescued me. Even though it was almost a decade ago I still remember as clear as day when James opened that suitcase. His frightening pair of sunglasses, but also his colorful scarf and that stupid, cavalier grin on his face. That's when he said, "Hey there princess, need a hand?" and I think I've been in love ever since!"

"Oh!" Miyu looked down at the table, slowly putting things together. That was why she was so keen on joining Star Fox to begin with. Only now did she truly understand why being rejected from the team was so hurtful to Fay.

After some more thought, she said, ""Princess"? But I call you that all the time."

"Just say it in the same dashing manner I first used, and you'll have me convinced," Fay reassuringly instructed. "Throw in the story about how James saved me for good measure."

"Great, it's settled then!" But Miyu's newfound optimism quickly evaporated. She slammed her head against the table, hopeless. "Now I just have to die so I can use it..."

Fay grabbed her hand. "Miyu, don't talk like that! What if you're wrong, and time doesn't reset? Don't you _dare_ do something utterly obtuse just because you think you'll respawn once you die. I won't allow it!"

Miyu tightly gripped Fay's paw in return. "Alright, I promise not to throw my life away like that—anymore than I would regularly do something rash and stupid."

Fay let out a deep breath and wiped her brow. "Whew! Now that you've decided not to kill yourself, what's our _real_ next course of action? Do you want to go after the pirate captain? Even if she's not on the other side of... Mount Oona-booga-loogie, at least we'll catch a scenic view flying there."

Miyu shook her head. "No, flying is too dangerous. They'll spot us and shoot us down, or overwhelm us with superior fighters. Or you know, they might hide. We'd have to sneak over there, through the swamp... and I do _not_ want to go through that ordeal for a second time."

Fay snatched up both of their plates, then made a short trip to a nearby trashcan and back. "What if we pretend to be their allies again? Join up with them, offer to split the reward fifty-fifty, double-cross them at the last minute?"

The lynx sighed. "That's no good either. Black Mamba already made it to their base, and they tried to have us killed last time. When we were sailing up the river with the pirates, Gladys called and ordered them to shoot us. Well—that wasn't exactly how it went down. Iggy asked for the Aquan necklace first."

"Would he have shot you once you handed it over?"

Miyu nodded.

"Then why wait? Why didn't he shoot immediately, then pry the necklace from your helpless corpse?"

"You have a way with words Fay... but that's a good point." To aid her mindworks, Miyu lifted the pendent out of her shirt and stared at it. A scallop shell, the ridges of which were polished away to reveal the mother-of-pearl interior. A reflective surface carved in the rough shape of a hand. But what could it mean?

"I'm convinced this artifact has something to do with it."

Fay let out a quick breath of air. "What, are you implying it's some sort of magic?"

The feline shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe it's some super-advanced technology created by Ancient Aquans."

Sitting at the table next to theirs both girls noticed a fat amphibian just in time to see him pick his nose and reach behind to scratch his butt.

"No."

"Naaaah," the girls said at the same time.

"Okay, so it's unlikely," Miyu admitted. "Let's hold off on catching Black Mamba and finding Gladys. Let's hang around Badwash. Do some research. Find someone who can tell us about these artifacts. Even a museum with exhibits on the Ancient Aquans. Let's figure out what the time-loops, pirates, artifacts, and yellow food-coloring all have in common."

"Oh I already know what they have in common," Fay claimed.

"You... do?"

Fay nodded before leaning back and crossing her arms.

"Each and every one of them are complete _humbugs._ "

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

The door to the hangar bay hissed open, and Black Mamba sauntered through. In contrast to the stark white labs contained within the base, the hangar was constructed from unpainted, stainless steel and chromium. The bay was long and arced to match the curvature of the base itself. On the outside of the curve a series of blast doors remained tightly shut, keeping the elements and the thin atmosphere at bay. Tools lay strewn about the room, supply crates sat haphazardly stacked against one another, and electrical wires and fuel hoses rested in unkempt coils. The research scientists and refuge-seeking pirates often clashed about smaller details such as the organization of the hangar. Even now Cira could see a pair of lab coat-clad scientists admonishing a group of lazy pirates reclining on a mess of equipment. They didn't seem to care—of all the scientists they only respected Andross and maybe his mistress. Each conflict always ended with the pirates threatening physical violence and the researchers backing off. It was all so pointless.

Cira marched around the inside wall of the hangar. On the way to her ship she passed by numerous crew shuttles, cargo transports, and pirate fighters—no two appearing to be of the same build. And if they were, they were heavily customized with decals, extra weapons, or internal modifications. No one wanted to be caught with a default fighter or a stolen, character-less Cornerian ship. As she neared the middle of the bay she spotted Captain Gladys' personal shuttle, as well as Dr. Andross' smaller transport. A large group of personnel were meeting outside.

The hangar was bustling with activity; pirates making last-minute checks on their ships, crewmen refueling fighters, and scientists loading medical equipment onto the shuttles. The sound of electrical discharges, engine sputtering, and yelled orders echoed off each of the chrome-plaited walls. A group of scientists carrying a medical pod unwittingly stepped in front of Cira, then skittered past when they recognized her.

At the junction between their two transports, Andross and Gladys were staring at a notepad together, going over a checklist. A few of the head researchers flanked Andross, while the Captain's Guard stood at the boarding ramp to her shuttle; two of the manliest tigers Cira had ever laid eyes on. Off to the side, away from the main group skulked Andross' pet vulpine. She looked distressed as usual, staring dourly at all the criminals and outlaws carousing together. She was probably nervous at what lay ahead, as were the rest of the scientists. None of them knew what to expect come eclipse—none except Andross.

Once she reached the group Andross and Gladys looked up from the notepad.

"Well Ms. Cortez?" Andross invited.

"I finished the background check. Fay McDomhan is indeed General McDane's niece. She's been traveling with Miyu Tsukikage under her mother's maiden name."

"You flew with Pepper's niece for two years and never knew who her uncle was?" Gladys mocked.

Cira shrugged. "She never told me, I never asked."

"She's most likely traveling in secret," the stoat extrapolated. "The old dog would never allow her to join a mercenary team. That mutt's gotta catch up to the times. There's nothing wrong with a young girl defining her own identity and going into a combat position anymore. This is 1013 for god's sake!"

"What tipped you off?" Andross asked the pantheress.

"The drone surveillance. Fay and the lynx traded passing comments in the swamp, and I managed to verify them."

Andross frowned and looked away. "Well this was unforeseen. How could I have predicted the Consulate General's _niece_ would be prancing into Badwash in the middle of our operation?! She could blow our whole cover and bring the Cornerians in prematurely. You know someone up there hates me!"

"Calm your hairy monkey nipples, Dr. Bowman," Gladys soothed in her thick voice. "When the Cornerians come we'll be ready for them."

"You'll be ready to turn tail and flee like you did at the Sector!" Andross shouted, pointing an accusatory finger.

Gladys rolled her eyes and snapped her fingers. Her two guards—one orange and the other a less common white tiger—marched over. Andross realized too late what they intended to do. At the same time, both of the Captain's Guards grabbed his arms and kicked his legs out from under him. They slammed him down against the steel floor, knocking the wind from the unfortunate scientist.

At this point in the confrontation, Andross' pet scientist noticed her superior's predicament. She looked over with concern, growing more visibly worried than before. While Cira always knew she wanted nothing to do with Andross' research project, the primate was still her protector and possible ticket off Bayoon.

With Andross pinned and struggling on the ground, Gladys stepped over and dug her pointed heel into his stomach. She flipped open a makeup kit and began applying lipstick while looking into a small mirror. "You know Milo," she casually spoke to the white-furred tiger, "I'm so glad we stumbled upon this secret base perfectly hidden from the Cornerians. Even though I am _graciously_ thankful that someone invited us here, I keep forgetting who our host is. If he wasn't around to constantly remind us of his worthless existence, I might forget entirely. Say if he was too... oh, accidentally step out of the hangar and plunge a few miles to his doom, I would never know he existed in the first place. And then we'd have this base all to ourselves. No maniacal ape messing with things best left alone, no bossy scientists skittering around like rats, and no insane science projects that will inevitably attract the dogs' attention."

From beneath the Captain's heel, Andross ground out, "Go ahead, throw me over the edge. I'd give anything to get away from you you sick freak."

Gladys moved her heel, digging around beneath the neck of Andross' lab coat until she located his amulet. "Of course I'd be taking _this_ before I do. Oh this article of jewelry is too precious to leave on your corpse. There's something... _royal_ about it. A pendent fit for an empress. It's just so _me._ "

Andross' eyes widened when she found the necklace and threatened to take it away.

Gladys grinned down at him, snapping her makeup case shut. "Not so confident without your little pendent, are you? I could take it away and _then_ kill you. Then my pirate empire could stay hidden in Bayoon and have no ambitious "research" project that could reveal our location to the Cornerians. I don't need you anymore Andross. _You_ need _me._ "

Andross breathed heavily for a few minutes, staring up at his captor. "But I can promise you the fruits of our research. When we succeed with our experiments we will have found the secret to controlling every individual in the Lylat System. Don't you want that power?"

Gladys frowned. "I have no intention of becoming a mock god. An empire is just no fun without proper enemies who can resist. I will use that power to put us on an equal footing with the Cornerians, and whenever the pendulum swings too far in their favor... I'll snap my fingers and reset it. What you're seeking is the Great Equalizer, Andross—you just don't know it."

"And you are a coward scared of true progress," Andross reprimanded. "Your banal, naïve desire is to keep the status quo for all eternity. You're a child unwilling to grow up and face change! That monster's power will unlock the next step in our evolution."

Gladys knelt down closer to Andross. "And you are forgetting that creature isn't a monster because it's huge and ugly. That very power is what makes it a monster. Steal its power and use it in the same way it intended, and you have become the monster."

"So be it," Andross mumbled.

Realizing she was making no progress with the simian, the Captain gestured her bodyguards off of him. "Your stubbornness will be our downfall, Andross. You can keep the pendent for now, but if you kill me my men will in turn kill you and send all of us back to square one. Deal?"

The orange tiger extended a hand to Andross, who was still sprawled out on the floor.

"Deal," he sighed. He took the hand and let the guard help him up. Brushing himself off, he said, "Let's not waste anymore time here. Oakley, give the order to suit up."

A scientist behind Andross nodded. "Yes sir!" He relayed the order over an intercom system, which demanded the attention of everyone in the hangar. After hearing the order, all of the scientists in the room began donning brightly-colored hazmat suits. While the pirates refused suits of their own, they did opt for gas masks, which may have been just for the intimidation factor. Some of them already wore gas masks for cosmetic purposes anyway.

As Gladys and her entourage ascended the boarding ramp into her shuttle, Andross turned to his mistress. He passed her a hazmat suit. "Here, let me help you with this. It's just a safety precaution, I assure you."

Growing impatient, Black Mamba sidled up to the pair. She cleared her throat.

Andross looked up from helping his fellow scientist don her suit. "Oh, right. Your orders." After zipping up the ridiculously baggy hazmat suit, he turned to Cira. "You have two objectives in Badwash. The first is to recover the lynx's necklace. She's managed to get herself killed twice already with it, and while I appreciate the chance to repeat this day more efficiently, it becomes monotonous at a certain point."

"And my second objective?"

"Kidnap Pepper's niece. You don't have to kill the poor girl, just bring her back to a transport shuttle or shove her in your fighter's cargo hold. We can use her as leverage if the Cornerians discover our plan too early."

"Have the necessary repairs been made on my fighter?"

Andross nodded, placing a gas mask over the vixen's face. "I believe the engine and the cargo hold are fixed. Ask the hangar crew for a full list, but your ship is completely operable. Now run along, and grab a gas mask on your way. You'll need one to."

Cira bowed curtly and left Andross' shuttle. Walking past a few more transports she arrived at the _Evryali._ Like Miyu and Fay's the ship was a Katinese interceptor with high maneuverability but relatively weak armor. It was wider than most, but conversely lightweight. The wings were large and formed a diamond shape together, with numerous aileron flaps for increased turning control. The rear thrusters had more mobility than standard fighter models and allowed for exceptional thrust vectoring. She kept the _Evryali_ faithful to her usual color palette of black with purple and gold highlights.

Pivoting mid-stride she marched towards a gas mask dispensary. The crewman passing out the masks saw her coming and hurriedly readied one. Upon her arrival at the stack of open crates he presented it to her. Cira looked down at the mask with displeasure. She handed it back.

"Do they come in black?" she mumbled.

The crewman nodded knowingly before fishing through a couple of the crates until he found one.

Gas mask in hand the feline slunk back to her ship and hopped aboard. Sinking into her cockpit she turned on the internal HUD and started a system-wide diagnostics check. The previously damaged engine and all of the cargo hold functions came up green, but she physically checked them just in case. The engine screamed to life, startling a few scientists who had been passing by at the time. Worked as good as ever.

Eventually Captain Gladys' voice forced its way through her intercom, communicating with every ship in the hangar at once.

"This is your captain speaking. It is time for our task force to descend. Can whoever's closest to the control tower open the bay doors? There's a sweet sugar plum."

With a metallic jolt the gates lurched open, then continued descending into the floor and ceiling like the teeth of some monster. The air was immediately ripped from the hangar and replaced with thinner, barely breathable atmosphere. Outside was a curtain of milky white clouds, and beyond those, open air.

As engine after engine powered on in the bay, Gladys's voice once again hailed over the comms.

"All units, begin the invasion."

* * *

 _A/N_ _: This'll be my last update on_ Y60L _for the rest of the month, maybe. I have to work on a contest entry that's due at the end of June, so all of my efforts will be concentrated on that. If you're interested in reading it, any of the other entries, or even joining the contest and writing something yourself, checkout the_ Foxhole _forum where we're hosting it. It's an OC-centric contest, and my entry is in no way related to anything I've written before (in fact that's the point of the contest). See you all later, and hope you don't mind the wait._

 _I've also gone back and reorganized the content in chapters 4-6, since it was so disproportionately weighted towards the latter two chapters. Now it'll be easier to read._


	8. Myopia

**Chapter 8: Myopia**

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

After discarding their trash in a waste bin, Miyu and Fay marched in the direction of Badwash proper. They planned on visiting a library or a museum in town to read up on Aquas' history. But first they had to work their way west through the carnival's attractions. Miyu often caught Fay gazing with enchanted eyes on the old-fashioned roller coasters and skating rinks they passed. It was a struggle keeping her focused.

Before they could pass one particular exhibit Fay grabbed Miyu's arm and pointed. "Ooh Miyu, look at that!"

Miyu looked to her right to see a large enclosed building complex. It was simply labeled 'Tunnel of Love', but the saccharine neon letters glowed just as dazzling as the other displays. A porch on the front of the building lead up to the entrance—an artificial stream like water parks had lazily flowing by. Mechanized wooden boats sailed past, one after another. Both couples and rowdy groups of friends were getting on in front of them.

"A tunnel of love? Really Fay?" Miyu asked. "Who would you even go with?"

"I mean, it's not really important who I go with. I just want to see what's in there! I've never been in a tunnel of love before. They're so mysterious and pretty on the outside."

"Ugh, can't we get away from water for once?" Miyu moaned.

"Honestly, sometimes you cats make it hard not to stereotype."

Annoyed, Miyu explained, "I've seen more than enough of my fair share of water over my past two lives, Fay."

Fay giggled and sheepishly made her next joke. "So now you're telling me you have nine lives too?"

Miyu clenched her fists, trying to keep her temper. "Look, it's not even that romantic in there. It could be one of those spooky haunted house ones."

Fay's eyes widened. "You mean they trick you like that?"

"Only Cornerians ignorant of lower cultures," Miyu jabbed. "No, it's supposed to be scary so the girl has an excuse to cling to the guy. Sometimes they're not even scary; they just have the history of the local town on display, and it's like you're at a... museum..."

Fay pumped her fist. "Alright! Let's go on the romantic-haunted-house-museum-tour-ride-thing-on-boats!"

"But only to learn about Bayoon history," Miyu stipulated.

"Yeah yeah, maybe we'll meet some cute boys inside," Fay giggled again.

The girls climbed the steps onto the porch and stopped by the ticket booth. The Aquan behind the counter didn't even look at them suspiciously for riding together; he just smiled and gave them their tickets. Miyu felt relieved. Anywhere else in the System and they would be the subject of crude jokes and hushed whispers.

They took their tickets and gave them to the ride attendant—another Aquan who helped them into their boat. It was a small wooden craft painted white with blue trimming. Once they were seated and the boat began moving they felt the rumbling and heard the squeaking from a set of wheels beneath.

The girls passed through an arched entrance into the start of the tunnel. It was dark and damp at first, but up ahead they could see a light. The tunnel of love turned out to be a series of rooms, each with an elaborate display.

They emerged from the darkness into a depiction of Aquas. Sandy islands rose out of the ocean—represented by cartoonish cutouts of sparkling waves, layered one on top of the other and moving lazily back and forth. On the surface of the islands stood unsettling models of Aquans. It wasn't even the uncanny valley effect; their faces and bodies were misshapen, and badly painted. They wore grass skirts and shoulder wraps, and brandished rudimentary spears typical of islanders.

One of the wax statues carefully rose from behind the bushes, a blowgun pressed to his lips. He emitted a whooshing sound, and behind them on a tree a dart appeared, embedded in the bark where their heads could have been. The girls only laughed in response.

As Miyu and Fay progressed across the room, the Aquan natives grew more advanced. They developed complex tools and built larger and more magnificent structures out of sandstone, coral, and marble. They slowly passed by a pyramid structure set atop tall pillars. Underneath and inside the temple more models of Aquans milled about their business, studying, trading, or debating each other. The scene was similar to pictures Miyu had seen of Cornerian history.

At the far end of the temple-like structure they passed an Aquan gazing through a telescope at the stars—sparkling crystals hanging from invisible threads. Another Aquan statue was pointing at them in a grandiose fashion.

"Ha, looks like a picture straight out of a political flier," Fay commented. "You know, where the politician is gesturing out across the horizon, acting all visionary."

"You get those a lot?"

"Yeah. It's really obvious how they all have the same pose. Supposed to be inspiring, but comes off as really cliché. It's like they're trying to explain how the world is flat."

They passed from the Aquan civilization room into a much shorter room. It was a brightly lit diorama of the Aquas horizon, with the sun shining above the waves amidst a blue sky. Lylat's sun traveled with their boat as they moved. But the lights began to dim. A second disk rose from the waves—a green disk which they identified as Bayoon. The moon climbed in the small sky until it neared the sun. It was several times larger, and as it began to blot out the sun the lights in the room dimmed. The darkness continued to fill the room until all that was left was the emerald circle of Aquas. A halo of light appeared around the satellite, hinting at the sun that still lay hidden behind.

Just when the sun began to peak out again they transitioned into the next room. It was similar to the first in that it depicted the same scenery on Aquas. But the sky was dark as midnight and overshadowed with storming clouds. Blue atmospheric lights just barely illuminated the same temple and structures, but flashes of lightning from the mock storm revealed a different scene altogether. The buildings collapsed and crumbled apart, raining down on the Aquans inside. One chunk of the temple made a controlled fall behind the waves, and a splash of water erupted, dousing both Miyu and Fay.

"Ack! Water!" Miyu coughed, closing her eyes and shielding her head.

"Didn't know we sat in the splash zone," Fay agreed.

Wind and thunder sound effects clashed, and haunting screams pierced the air. The wax Aquans posed in fighting stances, turning against one another. Some seemed to throw themselves off the buildings in panic. One statue leapt out at them from the shadows, causing Miyu to flinch and Fay to grab her shoulder, squeaking.

But the boat rolled ever onward, taking them out of the period of calamity and into another room. They started out underwater, with tall aquarium walls forming fish tanks on either side of them. Miyu and Fay marveled at the sets of miniatures built on the underwater landscape. Most of it seemed crude and low budget, but the proprietors knew how to make good use of the materials they had available. Eerie blue and green lightning danced at the bottom of the aquariums. It played across sunken ruins, shipwrecks, and the bones of amphibian skeletons. Pet shop fish swam among the ruins, looking monstrous compared to the miniatures at the bottom.

Then the sea floor began to rise until it met the surface. Aquans crawled out of the water and onto the sandy banks. Their leader stood at the forefront and beckoned for them to follow. His eyes remained closed, but there was something on his forehead. Miyu peered closely, and as their boat approached his features clarified. Staring out of his forehead was a third, vertical eye. It looked at nothing in particular—at least nothing the girls could see—and glowed a warm color from the light bulb shining behind its glass lens.

Behind their new leader, other Aquans began wading in the coastal waters, fishing out shells that floated in with the tide. The half-shells were roughly shaped like saucers or cups, and floated on the surface of more aquarium tanks. But Miyu's eyes were immediately drawn to their contents; a glow in the dark, yellow liquid.

"Fay, look!" Miyu pointed out the floating drinks. "I told you!"

"Color me unimpressed. It makes sense, doesn't it? That's what this festival is themed after. The yellow stuff obviously has some cultural and historical significance. But I don't see it turning them into zombies."

Fay was right. The Aquans that drank the liquid had their own third eyes opened, but acted in a civilized manner. Nor did Fay remember seeing those phantom eyes in the Darling family when they turned, or in any of the other monsters she fought. Something like that would have stood out. Still, the symbolism of the third eye and its relation to the chemical was a mystery in and of itself.

In the next room, the 'enlightened' Aquans cut down trees, wove baskets, and sowed large pieces of cloth together. They crafted hot air balloons and flew them into the sky, above the clouds. Miyu and Fay broke through a layer of haze created by fog machines, and saw the balloons landing upside-down on Bayoon's surface. It was a trippy experience, having the world and the Aquan characters suddenly inverted.

From there they passed into a mountain by way of a cave entrance, entering complete darkness. The pitch-black tunnel stretched farther than they could see, without scenery or audio effects.

"Okay, this part is boring..." Miyu actually felt unsettled by the amount of nothingness they were traveling through.

"Maybe this section is under maintenance?" Fay suggested.

Miyu activated the dim flashlight feature on her wrist unit and pointed it around them. The light only illuminated the water beneath their boat. It caught nothing beyond the edges of the waterway. They were in a much larger space than they previously thought.

After a minute of sailing through hollow space they emerged back into the light of another room. It looked like the other side of Bayoon, as the ground was back to where it should be and the Aquans no longer walked on the ceiling. By this time the amphibian explorers had spread out and begun colonizing the moon, building cabins and towns in the swamps of Bayoon. But spaceships descended from the sky, carrying fearsome pirates of different species, their features grossly exaggerated. They enslaved the Aquans, only to have the Cornerians step in, fight them off, and then occupy the planet themselves. While Fay looked on in indignance Miyu couldn't help but think of Katina's own fate.

The final room was decorated to look like a cave, with stalactites hanging from the ceiling and stalagmites sprouting up from the waterway. A secretive group of Aquans dressed in tribal gear with third eyes painted on their heads performed sacred rituals.

"Oh yuck, what is that? What is _that?_ " Fay covered her mouth with a paw, leaning forward on the edge of her seat.

To Miyu's shock the Aquans had several pirates and Cornerians stretched out on stone altars, and were torturing them. The hot pokers, spikes, and stretching racks paled in comparison to the last horror. A hapless canine lay face-up on a rock slab, the cruel pagans carving his stomach open and spreading his plastic organs out over a stream of water.

"I can't look," Fay whimpered. She turned away from the barbaric sight and buried her face in Miyu's shoulder.

"Why would they have something like that in here?!" Miyu exclaimed, but she was laughing at how over-the-top gory it was. "Carving up a Cornerian? Really? The stuff they get away with at these small towns... Well, I guess it's part of their history after all, but it sure is backwards."

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

They emerged from the tunnel of... 'love'... back into the daylight, and the ride attendant helped them out of the boat. Fay stumbled down the porch, clutching her stomach.

"Okay, I need a doughnut."

Miyu patted Fay's shoulder. "Take it easy Fay. Hold it in."

"What did... what did all of that mean?" she asked. "Was it all real? Do they really believe that stuff happened? Do they still _do_ that stuff?!"

Looking back in the direction of the ride, Miyu answered, "I assume it's gotten mixed up with old legends and tall tales. There are ruins in the Aquan ocean, but no one knows how they got there. If I remember correctly it had something to do with a giant meteor? A collision wiped out all of the Ancient Aquan civilization."

"Then why celebrate it?" Fay huffed, catching her breath.

"Well, it's more like they're celebrating their recovery, I guess. After all, if Aquas' islands never sank they wouldn't have set out to colonize Bayoon. It's that cyclic death and rebirth thing all the historians love."

"We learned some more things too," Fay added, but her heart wasn't in it. "That yellow goop guided them to Aquas, which is why it's so important. But we still don't know where it came from."

"We also know they aren't particularly fond of Cornerians," Miyu said, elbowing Fay.

"Ugh, stooop!" Fay whined, shaking her head and floppy ears.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Come on, let's get you some dessert or something to help you recover. You know, you really have to kick that squeamishness."

They didn't have to look far; right across the way sat a large ice cream truck. The metal was rusted and showed through the pastel yellow paint. Red lettering labeled the shop 'Frankie's Ice Cream'. But the serving window was closed, with only a thin slit remaining ajar. The girls slowed down when they realized this.

"Aw, is it closed?" Fay asked.

Miyu could see movement through the gap in the serving window. It was dark inside, but she could see shadows moving back and forth between the patches of yellow light. The movement meant people were inside, but the color of the glow sent off every warning siren in her head.

Now talking to the proprietors was more important than just buying ice cream.

Miyu approached the truck. The closer she neared the better she could hear the noises from within: the crushing of ice, the whirring of blenders, faucets pouring liquid, and muffled voices.

"Right over there man, right to the left. Where all the people at." She could hear the voice laughing. "Watch this show, it's good!"

The window flew up, and a beaver set the stabilizing arms in place. He wore a white bus boy hat and a stained apron. He had opened the window to point out a performance to his associate, but frowned when he laid eyes on Miyu.

"Sorry miss, we ain't open jus yet," the beaver stated.

Miyu halted below the window. Nervously, she asked, "When do you start selling that stuff?"

The other occupant—a skinny badger working behind the beaver—turned to peer over his shoulder at Miyu.

The beaver answered, "Same as everyone else. We roll the special flavor out come 'clipse. That way you can see the glow better."

He smiled and held up a jug of the food coloring, which sloshed in the container.

"H-have you tasted it yet?"

The beaver raised an eyebrow, and the badger looked even more curious. "No, I haven't had any yet, but we're starting to make it now miss. You come back in half an hour and it'll be ready for ya. It's delicious, believe me."

Miyu thought back to the wreck of the transport ship, and what she had learned from the flight logs.

"The food coloring... where do you get it from?"

"We buy it from local stores, miss," Frankie, or at least who she assumed was Frankie explained. "They get it shipped in from Portside, the larger city 'cross the lake. Why you ask?"

She didn't bother answering him, but continued with another question. "What's in it? How do they make the coloring?"

Frankie shrugged, looking perplexed. "I dunno. They call the stuff yellow 60 lake. It's probably just yellow food dye with an extra little something to make it glow. Nothin' to worry about, miss."

Miyu stared at the gleaming jug, worry in her eye. She thanked the ice cream man and turned from the truck. She shortly found her way back to Fay.

"What did he say?"

Miyu looked right past Fay. She took her paw and pulled her along. "Come on, we have to hurry. Once the eclipse is here, everyone will be at each others throats."

"Miyu, they've been celebrating this festival for years!" Fay argued. "If that yellow goop turned people into monsters they all would have died years ago. Plus, how dangerous is a zombie Aquan, anyway? They don't have claws or teeth."

The lynx wanted to believe her teammate, but she remembered the wreck of the transport, leaking crates of the coloring.

"No Fay, this year it's different. Something's gone wrong. It could be the pirates trying to poison them and take over Badwash. Or it could be the stars aligned in some bullshitty pattern. But I'm convinced this necklace is important. There must be some reason I found it now; some reason our coming to Badwash coincides with this necklace and the infection."

Fay sighed. "Well, all I have to do is wait for the eclipse, and when nothing happens you'll finally abandon all these wild delusions. Unless you're one of those doomsday prophesiers who always pushes back their predictions when they're proven wrong."

"Once the outbreak starts the fairgrounds are the worst possible place to be. It's too out in the open, with too little cover, and too much of the yellow dye. The town is safer; at least there are concrete buildings and boats there. Though they still probably sell yellow food and treats. At least we'll be close to our ships and can leave at a moment's notice."

"We're losing precious time doing nothing when we could be looking for Cira," Fay hummed.

"But we're _not_ doing nothing," Miyu explained. "We're looking into these Aquan artifacts. So even if nobody turns into zombies we'll still have something to show for our time."

They started back through the maze of booths and Aquans, Miyu pulling Fay along in a hurry. But Miyu got sidetracked when she noticed a familiar sight. It was a blue and yellow-striped tent, positioned between a clown bean-bag toss and some belly dancers.

When Miyu slowed to a stop Fay asked, "What do you see?"

"It's that old witch's place. What was her name? Chase-me?"

"Oh yeah, that fortune-teller's tent. Good eye! And it's exactly where she said it would be."

The girls stopped talking and their eyes drifted to the belly dancers' stage. A crowd of Aquans gathered around the platform, gawking at the rhythmic convulsions of the dancers. They were only clothed in grass skirts and coconut-shell brassieres. Miyu overheard one of the amphibian wives in the crowd hiss to her friend, _"Absolutely shameless!"_ Their husbands were undoubtedly closer to the stage.

"Now _I_ think I'm gonna be sick," Miyu admitted.

"This makes me feel worse than seeing those fake guts," Fay agreed. But then she smiled and playfully slapped Miyu's bare midriff. "Hey, I bet you'd be pretty good up there!"

"I've never been any good at dancing," Miyu dismissed her.

"Better you than those oiled-up frogs."

Miyu cringed. "Let's get inside as fast as possible." But she stopped halfway into the tent, noticing that Fay wasn't following. Holding the door flap open above her head, she asked, "What's wrong?"

"Well..." Fay scuffed her boot against the dirt path. "Do you really have to see that crazy old lady?"

"She may be crazy," Miyu conceded, "But she seems to know something about this necklace. I might as well get some information out of her. Maybe even she'll stop bugging us."

Fay still didn't budge. "I'll be waiting out here then."

"I don't blame you. Those shining stomachs sure are hypnotizing," Miyu teased.

"Nooo!" Fay shook her head vehemently. "It's just... that lady freaks me out. I mean I appreciate the necklaces she gave us and all, and her goodwill... but she gives me the heebie-jeebies."

"Oh... Alright, stay out here if you must. But be on the lookout! Warn me if you see any zombies, but I'll probably be out before eclipse. It shouldn't take that long."

"Okay, I'll be waiting!" Fay said cheerfully. She hopped around to stand sentry at the door. "If that old lady tries anything suspicious, call for me!"

"I'm sure she's harmless," Miyu laughed. Giving Fay one last smile she ducked into the tent and let the flap fall shut behind her.

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

Inside Miyu found a gift shop. Tables, cabinets, and racks held a variety of magic-related trinkets. Miyu observed everything from healing crystals and ancient idols to the chili pepper necklaces Chasme gave them earlier. The most common item by far was a particular make of eyeball-looking necklaces. All pendents were almost the exact same, with similar black pupils, blue or yellow irises, and white sclera enclosed in azure glass. Miyu saw them dangling at the ends of necklaces or studded on rings and bracelets. Often the porcelain eyes stared back at her from the palms of flat hands, passing as hanging decorations. She didn't understand the significance of the icon, but thought it must have to do with keeping a vigilant watch against spirits.

While Miyu was still looking at the mystic paraphernalia, the curtains on the other side of the room parted. Out stepped Chasme Badoor, dressed in her same ceremonial garb. The frog fixed half of her lazy-eye gaze on Miyu.

"A witch's gotta stay in business, you know."

Miyu looked away from the trinkets. "Oh, I wasn't judging you or anything. Honest. I just find this stuff fascinating."

The Aquan narrowed her eyes. "You think I'm a quack, don't you?"

"N-no, of course I... Well, okay. A little bit."

Chasme waited in silence.

"Mostly I just think you're crazy," Miyu admitted.

The Aquan had been waiting for that. "I understand, young lady. But it's part of the character. The tribe of Yashiri thought Cassy the seer was whacko, even though she correctly predicted the great famine. It comes with the gift of extra sensory perception."

"Did this Cassy girl save them in time?"

"Nope. The famine wiped 'em all out."

"...Okay." _Then what's the point of having foresight if you can't save anyone?_

The two stood in silence for a moment. The wind outside picked up, blowing through the tent and knocking the ornaments together, creating pleasant tinkling noises.

"Do you want me to reveal your future, young lady?"

Miyu gave her a grimacing smile. "Kind of?"

Chasme spun around, her grass skirt shaking behind her. "Then follow me in."

The lynx trailed behind the fortune-teller, entering the next segment of the tent after her. It was much darker than the gift compartment, with extra blankets blocking out the sunlight. When they entered the only light in the room came through their open tent flap.

Chasme moved to the back of the room, bending over to light a match. One after the other she lit a series of candles lining the back wall. That was definitely a fire hazard. But Miyu understood Chasme needed them for the atmosphere; the dim orange lights flickered faintly, lighting the room just enough for the occupants to make out the interior. The flames cast dancing shadows across the floor and walls, letting the mind play tricks on itself. Was that a bug crawling in the corner? The tail of a lurking figure? A wandering spirit, maybe?

Native-woven carpets lay strewn about the room, but it was too dark for Miyu to make out the designs. Still, not wanting to ruin the rugs Miyu removed her boots. After Chasme sat cross-legged on a pillow Miyu placed her boots just within the entrance flap and plopped down across from her. Chasme struck another match and lit two sticks of incense; one on either side of her. The heavy scent of esfand filled the air; Miyu was familiar with the seeds because they also had them on Katina. Two thin trails of smoke floated into the air, swaying from side to side like snakes. Miyu could hear the faint sound of music in the background, and could tell it was coming from a hidden radio. At the moment it was playing an instrumental song, but knowing there was only one local station Miyu assumed it might break out into a dance hit at any moment and ruin the experience. Between the two women sat a scrying mirror—a polished plate of obsidian set in a gold frame, etched into which were the phases of Bayoon. Chasme shoved it aside, hoping Miyu wouldn't pay it any attention.

Miyu worked up the courage to initiate the conversation. "So... what's this about being the chosen one?"

"Laugh if you must," Chasme huffed, "but it's true. You carry the hand—the Menote. Not just any hand trinket. All of those pendents and necklaces you saw out there? Those could turn away a single jealous thought or evil spirit, if you're lucky. Your hand is _the_ Menote. And I'm not talking about your paw."

Miyu lifted the pendent from her shirt. She held it between them, catching the candle light in its polished surface. Now that Chasme mentioned it, the hand shape was similar to many of the ornaments in the first room. The five finger design was only second to the stylized eye motif.

"This is... the Menote?" Miyu asked. "There must be some mistake. This belongs to some rich Cornerian art collector. A bandit stole it, and I took it back. I just assumed it was worth a lot because of its age. So it's... more than that?"

"Those ever-grasping Cornerians, pilfering our sacred treasures passed down through generations..." Chasme _tsked_. "What use will it be on Corneria, stuffed away in a jewelry box? It was fate, young lady—the will of the stars that caused it to be stolen, and you to bring it here. Not many people alive know its true purpose."

Miyu studied the Aquan for a minute, biting her lip.

"Look granny, I'll level with you. I think you're insane—insane enough to believe me. My friend thinks I'm crazy after I told her this, but here it goes." Miyu sighed, feeling a weight lift off her chest. "I've relived this same morning three times now. I've died twice. Painfully... But I don't die for good. I keep waking up where I first arrived on this moon. So, does that have any connection to this necklace?" Miyu shook the pendent in front of Chasme.

"Then it's true..." the elderly frog whispered under her breath. Catching herself she explained, "That is to say, yes, you have the genuine article. The tradition goes that the wearer of the necklace shall never be defeated. I never understood how that would work exactly. Having to die each time... what a living hell that is. But that means you can perfect your approach to killing the Enslaver."

"The what now?"

Chasme sighed and scratched at her wrinkled face. "You have much to learn, cat."

The lynx's ears folded back. "The name's Miyu..."

"Alright then, Miyu. I will start at the beginning. You weren't very good in school, were you?"

"What?"

"I thought not. Listen carefully. Thousands of years ago, before the modern peoples walked the planets, a tribe of Aquans rose out of the sea. They built a great civilization that spanned multiple islands and built temples to honor the old gods. But one of the ancient deities of Aquas was displeased, for they did not praise him. Using his powerful mind, he took control of the Aquans, whose consciences were like those of ants in his shadow. Under his control they placed him on the throne of their empire and continued to do his bidding.

"But the Enslaver was not content. He turned his eye upon the other planets of the Lylat with hopes to control their peoples as well. So he prepared the moon Bayoon as a vehicle with which to transport himself across the System. But he did not go unchallenged.

"Three Aquan maidens discovered the secret to thwarting the Enslaver's control. They wore mirrors over their eyes, and so turned back the Enslaver's gaze. Working together they crafted several magical items to use against him. Upon his ascent to Bayoon they used them, and eternally wounded the deity. He fell into a deep sleep and now rests below the mountain—Mount Obukula. But before his great slumber the Enslaver lashed out, causing the Aquan people to turn against each other with murderous intent. The Ancient Aquan Empire fell into ruin, and civilization was set back thousands of years.

"Now, the Enslaver is waking again. If the god is permitted to live he will take vengeance upon the Aquan people and the people of Bayoon. But _you_ , Miyu, have the power to vanquish him, and finish what the three shrine maidens begun."

Miyu had listened to the fortune-teller with rapt attention, her jaw hanging slightly open.

"I don't know how much of that story to believe, but at this point it's all I got," she admitted. "You... you mentioned other items?" Miyu pulled up the list of artifacts Jetta Toré sent her on her wrist comm. "What do each of these do?"

Chasme poured over the images. "These three," she pointed to the two necklaces and the dagger, "were created by the shrine maidens. The rest of these," she indicated the statuettes, "are worthless garbage. Well, besides being antiques."

The two necklaces were identical, so Miyu inquired about the dagger. "Does this do anything special?"

Chasme nodded. "That kukri has the power to counteract the effects of the two necklaces. I'm not quite sure how, though."

In that moment Miyu became aware of the bulge in her jacket. Before she had fallen asleep she had pocketed the knife, thinking it might come in handy. Luckily it came with a sheath, so she had no worries that it might scratch her skin. Still... what would happen if she cut herself on it?

"So something magical happens when I collect all three of these?" Miyu asked.

Chasme shrugged. "Only time will tell. Given the traditions it makes more sense that you'd need all three items. Once you achieve that..." The frog reached across the space between them, grabbing Miyu's paw with her slimy fingers. "You must _kill_ the Enslaver!"

Miyu glanced around the room—anywhere but the woman's expectant face. "You see here's the thing granny. I didn't come here to fulfill some ancient prophecy and kill a god. I just want to collect those items. I've already got most of them, all except one of the necklaces. Once I recover it I'll take 'em all back to the collector and get paid." Miyu felt herself becoming more confident and charged now, to the point where she could meet the Aquan's gaze head-on. "Then I'm never setting foot on this mosquito-infested snake clusterfuck of a miserable ball of pond scum ever again."

Chasme hissed and shook her paw in both of her own. "No! You can't abandon us! Oh how cruel the savior is, to let her people suffer!" Her shoulders shook with sobs, and her flabby skin rippled. "You can't leave us at the mercy of the Enslaver. He wants revenge! He'll come for you, too! Once the eclipse comes and the Munzagoringu festival begins, he will awaken, and unleash his wrath upon us all! Next he'll conquer Aquas, and from there—the entirety of the Lylat! Your people, the Katinese, are next! Not even the Cornerians deserve a fate as terrible as this! Please, if you do not care for the fate of us lowly amphibians, think of your own people. Think of your family... think of your canine friend!"

Miyu's thoughts turned to her sister, her mother and father back on Katina, and then to Fay. She shuddered to think what might happen to them if the infection spread to other planets. She wasn't sure about the legendary god and his power to control populations, but the threat of the yellow chemical was very real. And the infection started here, in Badwash.

"The festival... what's the point of it? Why hold it on the eclipse, and why the yellow food?"

While Miyu still hadn't outright agreed to helping, Chasme latched onto her curiosity as a good omen.

"For you foreigners an eclipse is a rare occasion. You do not know how much of a daily occurrence it is here on Bayoon. It is important that it starts during the eclipse; the legend goes that the Enslaver rose to Bayoon during that time of day. The date is more significant, as it coincides with his ascent 30,000 years ago, by our measures. I believe that is why he is waking up; his sleep was only temporary."

"So it's a celebration of his being put to sleep?" Miyu asked.

"Yes, and the triumph of the shrine maidens in their endeavor. As for the yellow coloring, tradition holds that it has to do with his blood. It is a rare occurrence for a god to bleed."

"But the chemical!" Miyu exclaimed. "That's what makes people go crazy and turn violent. I've seen it myself, many times."

Chasme fell silent. She let go of Miyu's paw and slumped down on her pillow. She scratched her chin, staring at the floor between them.

"Then this is the time indeed," she murmured. "The blood of the god has guided our civilization to recovery and great advancement, after the calamity years ago. Could... could it also be his way of controlling us?"

"There's something else," Miyu started. "Ever since I got to Badwash, I've had this strange feeling. When I'm alone or even with other people, I get the feeling that I'm being watched. But whenever I look around no one's there."

The mystic's face went pale. "Something... watching you?"

Trembling, Miyu nodded.

In response Chasme leapt off her rear and onto her feet. She dashed around the room, opening and closing cabinet drawers, hunting for something. Finally she returned with an ornamental bowl of water and a bottle of olive oil. She sat back down and placed the bowl between them.

"This will test to see if his gaze has found you."

Unscrewing the cap to the bottle Chasme poured three drops of the golden-yellow oil into the bowl. The splotches dipped below the surface but immediately sprung back up, circling each other.

"If the oil stays apart, fortune smiles upon you. If they come together and form the shape of..."

Chasme trailed off. She closed her eyes, bowed her head, and clasped her webbed hands together. She murmured a long prayer beneath her breath, but Miyu couldn't understand the words. It sounded like she was speaking in tongues, or at least ancient Aquan. Once in a while she would break into standard Cornerian to chant, "Far be the eye. Far be the eye!"

Along with the elder's prayers the song on the radio changed. It was a quiet tune, played on feathery acoustics and backed by a soulful choir. The vocals were spoken word, by the gentle voice of a preacher. Miyu couldn't understand what the fortune-teller was babbling on about, so she found herself focusing on the song faintly playing.

" _...And thus, when I awoke on the sacred isle, I heard a great thundering in the heavens. I lifted my eyes up to the sky and beheld all the winged angels arrayed in the seven times woven cloth purer than silk. And they descended from the gates of the heavens in chariots of clouds and lightning. And the first angel rode ahead of the blinding multitude and held aloft two golden chalices—one of death and one of life. And he hurled these down upon the surface of the world, scattering the divine wines across the lands. The angel spoke, and his voice shook the very foundations of the mountains, so that not one hill or pillar or palace was left unshaken. With the fire of truth on his tongue, he proclaimed, 'The Day of Discernment has come. Let the messengers of the gods descend upon the forsaken planet, and let the wines of fate choose the destruction or deliverance of its lost peoples, for they have strayed from the guiding light and forgotten the old ways..."_

Miyu watched the oil in the bowl intently. The candles along the walls made the drops glitter like pools of stars. They floated from side to side, drawn by the surface tension of the water. Slowly, one by one, the drops found each other and coalesced into one large circle in the middle.

Chasme opened her eyes and gasped.

The oil formed the shape of an eye.

A shadow fell over the tent and the rest of the festival. Eclipse had come. A gust of wind rushed through the tent and extinguished most of the candles, plunging them into even thicker darkness.

Miyu jumped to her feet, knocking the bowl over and spilling the water and oil in the process.

"He sees you!" Chasme exclaimed. "His eye is upon you! You must make haste, Miyu!"

The lynx needed no other prodding. She turned and stumbled through the tent flap, but had to come back for her discarded boots. Slipping one on she hopped on one foot through the gift shop, replacing the other.

Bursting out of the tent she cried, "Fay!"

But the spaniel was nowhere in sight. All that greeted her was the brightly colored tents and booths of the festival, and the dazzling light displays allowed to blossom in the shadow of the eclipse. She looked all around Chasme Badoor's tent: at the clown beanbag toss and even the belly dancers. She couldn't spot Fay's telltale red bow anywhere.

This was bad. This was _really_ bad.

Miyu glanced down at her wrist watch. _9:06 AM,_ Bayoon time. The start of the eclipse. The initiation of the Munzagoringu festival. The time when the "Enslaver" awoke. The signal to roll out the yellow food.

Miyu glanced down the way, back through the booths and amusement rides. There, at Frankie's Ice Cream truck, a long line of Aquans had piled up. The beaver from before handed out cones of glowing yellow ice cream through the window.

 _Shit!_

Miyu took off running in the other direction, but it was no use. Everywhere she looked she witnessed more Aquans consuming the yellow chemical. It was in frozen desserts, lemonade, sodas, even mustard and popcorn butter. All glowing yellow in the dark Aquan twilight. Any second now, the first of the frogs would begin to turn, and the entire fairgrounds would be one giant massacre.

And somewhere in the middle of it all was Fay, lost.

Miyu kept sprinting through the dirt pathways, trying to raise Fay on her wrist comm. But it was no use; her partner didn't return any of her calls.

 _Dammit Fay, why now of all times?_

An Aquan stumbled out of one of the tents directly in front of Miyu. The feline barreled into him, feeling his saliva get on her face during the impact. Holding the frog at arm's length Miyu could see his unfocusing, golden eye stare, and the yellow liquid dripping from his gums. The creature, no longer an Aquan, recovered its wits and let out a gurgling growl. It grabbed at Miyu's arms and shoulders, trying to bring her in closer to his snapping jaws.

Grimacing, Miyu brought her left foot up and planted it in his belly, kicking him away. She stumbled back, wiping the infected saliva from her face before scrambling to run away. All around her, screams of victims and feral hisses from zombified Aquans erupted. Two grappling salamanders overturned a fruit stand, spilling apples across Miyu's path and nearly bowling into her.

Miyu rounded the corner of a shoe toss tent, but abruptly put on the brakes. She craned her neck back, staring up at the sky. Low vibrations began to shake the entire fairgrounds, causing others to look around as well. To Miyu the sound was unmistakable. It was the rumble from the engines of at least a dozen ships. Breaking through the cloud cover came several arrays of lights; some were the glowing exhaust ports of engines, while others were from cockpits or proximity lights on the ends of wings. In all, Miyu counted about sixteen ships; some were fighters while others were larger transports. As one they descended from the sky upon the festival, like a swarm of locusts.

All Miyu could do was stare back, boots frozen to the ground and muscles stiff as granite.

By all standards it was an invasion.

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Black Mamba looked out from the cockpit of the _Evryali._ Below her in the shadow of the eclipse glowed the warm lights of the festival. It seemed like an inviting carnival; amusement rides spun round and round, bonfires flickered, and neon food cart signs flashed. But the closer she descended the less pristine it looked; the festival slowly revealed its true state of chaos. A pity they had to ruin it.

For the landing site Gladys and Andross chose a cart derby track at the northern end of the festival. Cira could see it below her—a large 0-shape of dirt surrounded by wooden split-rail fencing, with hastily constructed bleachers on either side.

Cira brought her craft down near the edge of the field contained in the track. While she readied her gear the other fighters descended around her. A troop transport landed in the middle, but did not open its gates just yet. They needed the vanguard to clear the immediate area first.

Cira popped the canopy of her interceptor. Before exiting her ship she tightened her gas mask around her muzzle. Then, strapping two short blade machetes to her waist she grabbed her sniper rifle and stepped out onto the nose of her ship. She crouched, taking in her surroundings with piercing gold eyes.

The infection was well underway. All the Aquans in the area fled, leaving behind those that had turned to stumble drunkenly about. Witnessing the pirates' landing, and identifying the gunmen perching atop their fighters, the yellow-oozing frogs grew animated again. They rushed their ships, howling and slapping the sides while others attempted to climb up. For the moment, camped atop their spacecraft, Cira and the pirates were safe. Though the snapping jowls below did anything but put them at ease.

" _Clear the perimeter,"_ Captain Gladys ordered via comm link. As one, the vanguard opened fire on the Aquan zombies below.

Cira didn't bother looking through her scope as she fired into the group surrounding her interceptor. Squeezing the trigger and bracing for her rifle's recoil, she watched the nearest Aquan jerk backwards. A large wound appeared in his round stomach, spurting a mixture of bright blood and neon yellow liquid. The frog fell on his back, writhing as more of the solution saturated his T-shirt. When he started to get back to his feet he confirmed Cira's fears. The zombies would ignore any wounds as long as their bodies still functioned.

A second round to the head placed the Aquan in the dirt for good.

Thankfully the rest of the attack squad weren't complete idiots and caught on as well; after seeing so many zombie-related materials they knew the drill. For several minutes they perched atop their fighters, wiping out the infected closest to their ships. Then after Cira found herself picking off more distant zombies using her scope, she heard the sound of the pirates jumping from their ships. She leapt down as well, staying low to the ground as she ran. She brushed past the squad leader as he reported in to Gladys.

"Racetrack cleared, Captain."

" _Nice work. Release the rest of the troops and land the research teams."_

Cira witnessed the troop transport door open, and was impressed to see the captain step out first, followed by her tiger bodyguards. She wore another kimono which struck Cira as highly impractical for the job at hand, but at least she had armed herself. The hilt of a commando pistol protruded from her belt, but most noticeably she wielded a bisento—a spear tipped with a long blade. That would do some damage at long-range, keeping the monsters at bay.

The pirates poured out behind her, many of whom carried riot gear—heavy visored masks and shields to push back the zombies.

"Establish the perimeter," she barked, the honey-sweet drip to her voice gone. "Setup barricades around the track and prepare to advance. Whatever you kill, at least leave a few scraps for the scientists to pick through."

The rest of the personnel shuttles landed in the field and disgorged their cargo. Hazmat suit-wearing scientists filed out, carrying a variety of stretchers, surgical instruments, and containers. While the researchers were amply suited in protective clothing the pirates were satisfied with gas masks or even just bandannas over their mouths.

Dr. Andross departed from one of the transports, his vulpine mistress by his side. Cira could only tell because he walked up to Gladys and started conversing with her.

"Please, leave some alive will you?" The primate's voice came out muffled by his suit. "We must have some live specimens to study, or I'll have to resort to experimenting on your own men."

Gladys rolled her eyes and reared back with her bisento. She plunged the bladed end towards Andross—right into the grasping claw of an Aquan at his feet. The beast was still alive, even with several bullet holes. It had been slowly crawling towards Andross, but now lay pinned at his feet. Upon seeing the creature Andross stumbled back slightly, but he made sure to keep the vixen behind him.

"There you go: specimen number one," Gladys sighed. She waited for the researchers to secure the struggling monster before yanking her spear out. A sharp sucking noise accompanied its removal. Gladys swung the spear in a circle, slinging droplets of red and yellow to splatter against the grass, forming an arc at her feet.

"Proceed with the extraction! We shall advance through the fairgrounds, clearing aisle by aisle. The Aquans you can permanently kill, but any monster of a different species you must keep alive—we have enough Aquans already. The scientists will follow behind and collect samples. Once our good doctor decides we have collected enough we shall retreat back to the racetrack and leave for the base. Now, move out!"

While the pirates forged ahead with Gladys at their lead, Andross and his vixen stayed back. Now that they were alone Cira approached him.

Andross noticed the pantheress drawing near. He growled, "One day that circus sideshow will be bending its knee to _me._ That creature has no idea who it's dealing with. But for now I must practice tolerance. Patience is a valuable virtue." This he confided to both Cira and his mistress. "Remember your objectives, Ms. Cira. Reclaim that artifact and kill the lynx—yes in that specific order. Then find Pepper's niece. I want her alive and uninfected."

"Yes sir," the bounty huntress nodded. "Killing the lynx will be a pleasure..."

* * *

 _A/N : Say, it's been a few months. Sorry for the delay, but I took that time to focus on a contest entry that I'm... not too happy with. It was fun writing, but in the end I wished I chose a different premise._

 _This marks the halfway point for the story, or 8 out of 15 chapters. I'll warn you guys now, the next chapter will boost the rating to an M. I'm going to challenge myself to write it in less than a week. Shooting for August 21st, but we'll see how that turns out._


	9. Boucherie

_A/N : What are you doing on computer? Go outside, see eclipse, so BEAUTIFUUUUUL! HNARGHAAAA!_

 _As you may have noticed I boosted the rating to an M, which is because of the events of this chapter. You have been warned!_

 **Chapter 9: Boucherie**

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Fires broke out across the fairgrounds. The Aquans left stoves and open fires unattended in their panic, resulting in tents and wooden stands going up in flames. The smoke they generated drifted across the dirt paths, choking Miyu and causing her eyes to tear up. But she pressed on through the chaos.

She ducked inside an abandoned tent, which looked set up for face painting. A poster hanging from one of the walls displayed several different designs, one of which was the third eye Miyu had seen in the tunnel of love. But that didn't matter at the moment, as she had other priorities.

Huddling down on the ground Miyu checked her wrist comm. If Fay ran off somewhere she'd appear on the map. Miyu sighed; the spaniel's wrist comm was broadcasting an emergency beacon, and heading to the east of the festival, away from Badwash Harbor and into the wilderness. It meant Fay was alive and on the run.

She put a call through to Fay, hearing the watch ping her multiple times, but got no response. For whatever reason, Fay didn't pick up. Miyu called again, and a third time, and a fourth time, but Fay never answered. If she was alright she would have no trouble picking up, even if she was on the run or wounded. And she couldn't be trying to conceal her location, because she was running too fast and would make noise anyway. That told Miyu there were two possibilities. One, Fay had been kidnapped and was being carried somewhere, or two, that she had been infected and was running wild. Miyu's heart refused to accept the latter, even if her brain told her it was a possibility.

Shots erupted all around her tent, startling Miyu. One stray bolt of blue energy even burned its way through the canvas walls. Miyu cracked open the entrance flaps and peered out with a single eye. Somehow the scene was more chaotic than before. Pirates wearing gas masks or bandannas scurried through the streets, mowing down Aquans left and right, regardless of whether they were infected.

Then when the pirates combed past, and just as the area was quieting down, otherworldly figures entered the stage. They were bipedal but nearly shapeless, amounting to no more than blobs of bright yellow. To Miyu they seemed like the first two transport pilots she encountered in the swamp; completely covered in the chemical, oozing it from every pore. But these creatures were different. The yellow didn't glow, except from reflecting nearby lights. Their movements were more clumsy and stiff, not at all like the savage predators from the swamp. Instead of infusing them with super-Lylatian strength the yellow chemical seemed more of a hindrance.

The aureolin beings passed by Miyu's tent, loudly breathing in and out in slow, measured breaths. They bent over the corpses of dead Aquans, scraping off samples of the yellow fluid. Now that they were closer Miyu realized what they were; figures clothed in protective hazmat suits. They were no more infected than she was.

Backing off from the surreal image, Miyu pulled away from the entrance. Now that Gladys' men were on the scene escaping from the carnival would prove much more difficult. One stray shot could down her, on top of death by zombies, and she'd end up a sample for those hazmat-suited freaks. She had spent her last two days on Badwash searching for the pirates. Now they had found _her._

Miyu crawled to the opposite side of the tent, where she lifted the bottom of the canvas wall and wiggled through. Once outside the tent the protective covering no longer muffled the noises; bursts of rifle rounds, screams, demonic howls, and carnival tunes created a hectic lullaby tempting her to despair and surrender. But she couldn't give up yet, not when Fay needed help and she was on the cusp of learning the pirates' intentions.

Traversing the streets was a deathwish. Every moment she spent in the festival's alleys put her in the paths of monsters or pirate crossfire. In that case, the safest method of travel was...

Miyu located a boat hauled up on the shore. She climbed up a series of ladder rungs, skipped the main deck, and landed herself on the roof. From that vantage point she could see all around the carnival. To the north, a racetrack where the pirates' vessels made landfall. To the south, the lake shore. West: Badwash Harbor, probably swarming with the turned as well. And in the east, the forest, where Fay had retreated. That was Miyu's destination now.

The lynx set out across the rooftops. As carefully as possible, she jumped from one establishment to the next. Sometimes it was a tightrope walk over power cables from a merry-go-round to a skeet ball booth. Other times it was a flying leap between a tug boat and a clothing tent. Once she climbed across the metal skeleton of a small ferris wheel. Each time she attempted one of these feats she found herself looking down, reminding herself of the consequences of failure.

Miyu closed in on the edge of the festival, far away from the sounds of gunfire and the cadre of pirates. Only a few more buildings to go before she reached the forest. But the next obstacle was a banner stretching over the dirt path, welcoming Yoons to the celebration from that direction. The munzagoringu festival banner stretched between two ropes: one on the top and the other along the bottom, like a tennis net. Stopping at the left side, Miyu set her feet on the bottom and clenched the top rope in her paws to keep herself steady. In this manner she inched across the gap, slowly moving her feet forward and changing her handholds.

Halfway across the banner she committed the cardinal sin of tightrope walking: looking down. Beneath her gathered a horde of zombified Aquans, and one or two "off-worlders". They craned their necks and bent over backwards, sometimes falling over while trying to watch her. Drooling the infectious chemical they swarmed the ground beneath her, howling at their inability to reach even her feet. Becoming increasingly frustrated, they climbed atop one another to better snap at her, but Miyu dangled a comfortable distance above them. Still, that same distance could quite literally be her downfall, especially if she were to break her leg from falling.

Miyu painstakingly approached the other poll and the end of the banner, fearful of the monsters swarming below. Her front foot lost its balance and she plummeted towards the ground. At the last second she regained her handhold on the banner, catching herself before falling too far. That same moment the sharp report of a blaster rifle cracked above the tents, and a conventional bullet grazed the top of Miyu's shoulder. She cried out, but couldn't grasp her shoulder without letting go of the rope. In the moments after the shot she realized it would have impacted much lower in her shoulder if not for her accidental stumble. That misstep saved her life.

Rather than identifying her attacker Miyu leapt across the rest of the banner and onto the building. She rolled over the wooden surface several times, coming to a stop on her belly. Lying flat on her stomach she looked out over the tents and booths, spotting a dark shadow running over the rooftops across the road. Miyu couldn't make the assailant out in the dim eclipse light, but the more she tracked it the more features she identified. Agile, lithe, long thin tail, black clothing...

 _Black Mamba?_ At once Miyu's hopes and fears lifted in the same heartbeat. On one hand she finally found Mamba with the invasion force, but on the other she was in a bad position. Miyu doubted she could take her teammate in a one-on-one fight. Having Fay's help would be ideal, but she couldn't enlist her aide without first defeating their former teammate... _Damn these catch-22's!_

The shadow darted across the rooftops until it paused by the banner.

 _She's going to cross!_ Miyu realized. She whipped out her own blaster, staring down the sites from her prone position and following the figure. She was scared by how quickly her adversary scurried across the ropes. Miyu fired off consecutive shots, but the banner was between the two of them, obscuring Mamba's location. They ripped through the canvas, revealing empty holes.

Realizing how soon the panther would be upon her, Miyu scrambled to her feet and leapt over to the next building. She allowed her body to crash against the false facade, only to wince at the pain it caused her shoulder. The wound was open and bleeding, and any jolt it experienced caused it to sting. Miyu had already let Black Mamba land the first punch.

The lynx caught a glimpse of her assailant as she stepped onto the previous building, the light from nearby fires illuminating her golden orbs of eyes. That confirmed her identity.

Miyu considered asking about Fay's whereabouts. It seemed possible that the pirates had kidnapped Fay themselves—but then again it wasn't, as they hadn't landed until minutes after she left the fortune-teller's tent. Was there another group that captured her? Would Fay really run off by herself? Or worse, had Fay turned?

Before the pantheress stepped any closer, Miyu fired in her direction, driving her behind cover.

She hated the uncertainty that came with not knowing, but she quelled her desire to ask Mamba. Instead she played it like Fay was nearby, gambling that Cira didn't know herself.

"Fay," she spoke with a raised voice into her wrist comm, "I found Mamba. We're a block down from your position. Hurry!" It was a bluff, as Fay was nowhere near them. Fay couldn't even hear Miyu's message. But the trick worked like a charm on Cira, who cautiously went on the alert.

With Mamba distracted, Miyu hopped onto another beached boat. The next logical destination was a shorter building on the other side of the boat, but Miyu hid on the wall beneath the top deck of the yacht. She pressed herself flat against the wall, but craned her neck to peek through the window at the other side. Sure enough, she saw Mamba running close to the ground on the previous building before jumping across. She heard the thump of her boots on the roof of the yacht and felt the impact through the boat itself. Right as Mamba went to jump to the lower building Miyu nabbed her ankles with her arms. She tackle Cira onto the roof of the shack, satisfied that she knocked the wind out of her.

Pinning Cira's arm behind her back Miyu shouted, "Alright you slut, where's that necklace you stole!"

The pantheress fought against Miyu's hold, unsuccessful at first. She declined to answer.

Miyu's size and strength gave her an advantage over Mamba; the bounty-huntress was well-toned for someone of her size, but still came up short against Miyu's strength. Black Mamba was most dangerous when her location was unknown and she was free to hunt. Miyu eliminated those advantages as long as she had her pinned to the ground.

The lynx twisted her arm further back, eliciting a pained hiss from Cira's teeth. "I said, where's that necklace?! Give it to me and I'll let you go... _after_ I brain you silly, of course."

"You're out of luck," Cira growled out. "I left the necklace with someone else. Now, why don't you hand over _yours_ so I don't have to kill you?"

Miyu laughed. "You're in no position to—"

Lodging those words in Miyu's throat, Mamba drew her right leg in close to her chest, between her body and the rooftop. With the newfound leverage she abruptly pushed herself in the direction Miyu was twisting her arm, eliminating any threat Miyu had of breaking it. She sent the both of them sprawling on the roof, but recovered before Miyu. She unsheathed her machetes, the blades singing through the air, and leapt at her former teammate—only to meet Miyu's boots with her stomach. She found the air once again knocked from her lungs and stumbled backwards, hunched over, gasping for breath, and arms crossed over her belly.

"Freeze!" Miyu ordered. Her blaster shook in her hand, trained on Cira. "Drop those knives and your rifle—and all those stupid little hidden weapons, too!"

She felt scared for multiple reasons. In past missions she witnessed the panther expertly end such standoffs; she had saved Miyu and Fay's hides several times by rushing and disarming the gun bearer. For the other reason, she wasn't sure if she could pull the trigger on Cira. If Fay found out she killed her, even in self-defense...

Mamba took a step forward, but bent down on one knee to deposit her blades on the roof.

Miyu waved her blaster. "Come on, the rifle and everything else, too!"

Scowling, Cira slipped her sniper rifle from around her shoulder and laid it next to her machetes. She also removed her belt and a variety of smaller knives and smoke screen pellets. Once finished, she stood back up. But the lynx knew she deceptively reserved a few secret weapons, even if she wasn't fooling either of them.

"Alright, where did you stash that necklace?"

Mamba took an unnoticeable step towards her. "I told you, I gave it away."

"To Gladys?"

Her eyes widened.

"Yeah, I know who you're working for. I know who's commanding those pirates. You forget I've relived this same hellish day twice already. But I still have many questions. What does Gladys hope to achieve on Bayoon? Is _she_ causing this outbreak in Badwash? Why is she so interested in this food coloring?"

Cira managed another indiscernible step. "I'm afraid I don't know," she said, grinning from ear to ear. "I just work for her. I follow orders and don't ask unnecessary ethical questions. Unlike some mercenaries I could easily name."

Miyu growled. "Fine, I don't have time for this. If you haven't noticed yet, Fay isn't here. She ran off into those woods, and I need to find her. I'm wasting time with your sorry ass when I could be helping her."

The huntress' eyes narrowed. "You're always dragging Fay into trouble, aren't you? Caught between preserving her innocence and toughening her up. You've seen the results of that on Aquas. You couldn't save her because you couldn't bring yourself to kill them. Someone had to stop what was going on, and since you wouldn't kill them I did. And look at the reward I get..."

She stepped closer to Miyu, but this time her opponent noticed.

"G-goddammit Cira, don't come any closer! I don't want to shoot you, but if you force me I'll put a gaping hole in your leg!"

"So eager to turn on me, yet you freely let those men put their hands on Fay."

"Not another step!"

The building was smaller than Miyu accounted for. She stepped back to place some more ground between the two of them, but her foot found the edge of the roof and she stumbled backwards over it. So that was Mamba's game; back her over the edge without having to dodge her gun.

Luckily Miyu landed on the canvas awning underneath, which softly broke her fall and kept her from plummeting to the beasts below. But in an instant the pantheress jumped over the side and on top of her. They grappled on the awning, punching and scratching and trying to grab the upper hand. Eventually Miyu remembered the ornamental dagger she had in her jacket, and withdrew one of her hands from the fray to draw it. With one of her adversary's hands gone, Cira closed her own paws around her neck, strangling the lynx as she sat upon her.

Choking, Miyu took out the knife and swung her arm to stab Black Mamba's side, but Cira identified the new threat before she could. She gave up trying to strangle Miyu and grabbed for the knife. Their grappling session turned into an arm wrestling match as both women tried to turn the blade against each other. Miyu realized she had no hope of wounding Cira now, be she thought of another idea. She pressed with all her might against the blade, but let Cira turn it towards her. In one swift motion she relinquished her counter force on the knife and let the black-furred feline drive it towards her stomach, but had shifted her body out of the dagger's path. The blade tore into the canvas and sliced a wide swath in its wake, ripping more as Mamba's weight followed through. The canvas awning collapsed beneath them, and the two felines fell through.

Miyu caught onto the solid frame of the awning, postponing her descent; she intended for this to happen. But Cira caught a hold of her belt and legs, adding a large weight to Miyu. She fought to climb up the lynx, but the monsters below had already grabbed onto and bitten her legs. Her scream tore at Miyu's ears as one of the deranged canines sank its teeth into her ankle.

"Cira, climb up me, climb up me!" Miyu futily tried pulling both of them back onto the roof, but she couldn't lift both of their weights. She felt the panther's grip tighten around her legs, then slacken, and watched her body fall to the ground.

At once the hungry beasts jumped on her. Cira's screams continued to echo between the booths and tents, but soon fell to a low gurgle.

Miyu lifted herself back up the awning and onto the solid roof, where she rolled onto her back and stared up at the sky. She could hear the monsters tearing into her as flesh ripped from flesh, but she refused to look. The melancholy disc of Aquas greeted her, bright blue except for the shadow of Bayoon hovering on its surface. She couldn't help but shed a tear for Cira. She whimpered, listening to the creatures eating her and thinking of her torturous death. Did she really hate her former ally to that extent that she would wish such a death on her? She tried to argue herself into thinking that Cira deserved it, but a nagging voice in the back of her head kept blaming herself.

Once the sounds of their feast dissipated, and she was sure the monsters wandered off, Miyu rose to her feet and set out for Fay again.

She did not look over the edge.

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The forest was dryer than the swamp, which Miyu felt grateful for. At the edge of the carnival she found a trodden dirt path leading into the trees, and took it. It lead her in Fay's general direction on the map, but Miyu became frustrated whenever it seemed to snake too far left or right. Regardless, it always straightened out in the end.

While the bright surface of Aquas kept the light level at twilight, the foliage grew thicker than the swamp, casting Miyu into near pitch-black darkness. As she flew across the dirt path she constantly checked over her shoulder and her surroundings to make sure the infected weren't following her. So far so good, but there was always the possibility one or two trailed her from the festival, or a family living out in the wilderness had succumbed to the chemical. The dancing shadows her wrist comm's flashlight cast did nothing to settle her nerves. The black silhouettes of claw-like appendages grasped across tree trunks and boulders, imparting on Miyu the feeling of hands reaching for her, or fingers closing around her neck.

She slid to a stop, kicking up a cloud of dust. The path at her feet abruptly curved to the north. But a dark gap sunk into the leaves and bushes her makeshift flashlight illuminated. An unmarked path lurked there, leading on in Fay's direction while the beaten path turned astray.

After taking a moment to catch her breath and settle on a trail, Miyu picked the more obscure of the two. She brushed past the overgrown flora, but the leaves and branches tickled her neck and stomach.

After several breathless minutes on the hidden trail she came upon a tall hill. The dirt and stones rose to form a steep cliff, which was flat on top, like a plateau. From Miyu's vantage point beneath the edge it looked like a large tree stump. Sweeping her light across the cliff face in front of her she located a flight of stone steps set into the wall, curving their way up the side. Miyu cautiously crept up the staircase, avoiding scuffing her boots against the stone and making unnecessary noise. Once she stood at the top and shone her light over the feature she understood what it was.

She had climbed on top of a moderately-sized crater, big enough for her Katinese interceptor to fit inside of. Similar steps lead down into the crater, disappearing into the darkness her wrist unit's beam couldn't touch.

She descended the stairs, assuming she'd find another set leading up the opposite lip. But the stairs continued down into the ground.

Into a cave.

A gust of wind blew out of the shadowy depths, ruffling Miyu's fur and chilling her skin. The draft rustled nearby bushes and created a faint howling sound as it escaped.

Miyu stared into the dark abyss yawning before her.

 _Fuck no!_

She scrambled backwards, edging away from the cave mouth. But she caught herself, freezing while she argued in her head. Fay was down there. That was for certain. But she also knew Fay would never enter the pit of her own free volition—and neither would she herself. That meant Fay must have been kidnapped. Of course there was the fleeting chance that some other group was acting in her best interest to save her from the outbreak, but... really?

Miyu took out her blaster, feeling it tremble in her hand.

Hadn't she learned enough this time around? The history of the ancient Aquans, the purpose of the necklaces, and the whereabouts of both Black Mamba and Gladys. Now she was wounded and had lost contact with Fay. For all she knew Fay might be undergoing torture down there, or was already dead. Shouldn't she quit while she was ahead?

 _Coward._

She was just scared of the dark. How could she let that petty fear stop her from saving Fay? If her rescue mission went awry she could just end it down there. And Fay's disappearance raised several more questions that needed answering in their own right. Who kidnapped her, and why? Who was this new mystery individual or group?

Finally... how did she know she'd wake up again after pulling the trigger? She'd come back twice before, but would it work a third time? Could it only reset her life a few times? What if she was just insane and wrongly driving herself to suicide?

This doubt was the final straw. She holstered her blaster and firmly set her jaw.

She was going in.

With tentative steps at first, she descended into the mouth of the cave.

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The floor was stone, but covered in a thick layer of dirt and dust that muffled her footsteps. Once again Miyu could only illuminate her surroundings with her wrist unit—the only source of light underground. The cave walls were damp and slimy to the touch, like slugs or snails or some other creature regularly rubbed against them. Some minuscule threads of water ran along the stone in small rivulets, disappearing into the cracks beneath the rocks. In some wider chasms she found stalactites hanging from the ceiling, noisily dripping water onto pools or stalagmites below.

The cave system grew to maze-like proportions, splitting into multiple passages with countless byways and hidden crannies to mislead her. Miyu rapidly became disoriented, but she pulled up the map on her wrist comm. It didn't show any features—except for Fay's flickering beacon—but she could use it to mark her path and trace her footsteps. Intermittently she would pause at a fork in the tunnel and mark a way point on the map.

Miyu heard the sound of wet slaps behind her. Panicking, she extinguished her light and drew herself into a crevice between two large rocks. The wet-sounding footsteps drew closer, and an orange glow began to light the passageway. Finally two figures rushed past her position, thankfully neglecting to stop. One of them carried a lamp with which Miyu could better discern their features.

They were two amphibians, dressed in the rough, ordinary clothes common to Badwash, but with several key additions. They sported feathered headdresses and wore facial paint. One of the two had his shirt off, revealing even more body paint on his gleaming belly. They looked like they were dummies who accidentally wandered straight from the tunnel of love; their faces grotesquely disfigured by the bright flames and contrasting extreme shadows, and their native paraphernalia hearkened back to the costumes of the ancient Aquans.

As soon as they progressed a safe distance down the cave tunnels, Miyu set out after them. Miyu kept an innocuous distance behind them, but never lost sight of the orange glow. She followed them through several passages, keeping her wrist unit off. But eventually they passed through a stone archway, where two more costumed Aquans stood guard outside. Miyu stuck her head around the corner, but jerked it back when she saw them. Wherever those frogs were going, she needed another way.

The first passage she tried lead in the wrong direction, but the second seemed correct. It took her up a flight of stairs and into another horizontal passage above the room with the guards. At the other side the passage opened out into a wider cavern. Miyu stepped onto a wooden balcony scattered with chairs, tables, and cabinets. It overlooked the rest of the cavern, which was the largest room Miyu had come across yet.

The room was roughly three stories tall and stretched back as far as an auditorium. It was brighter than the rest of the cave system, illuminated by lamps similar to the one the pair of Aquans was carrying. When she looked down over the balcony railing she froze. A see of glistening amphibians covered the floor like a carpet, stretching from one end of the atrium to the other. At the far end stood a raised platform of stone, upon which sat a cadre of Aquans playing tribal instruments. They periodically thumped large drums or rattled seashell tambourines, while more frequently blowing haunting ocarinas and pipes. To their right stood a proud, purple-skinned Aquan, who wore the most elaborate garb of them all. His tall, orange-feathered headdress brushed up against low-hanging stalactites, and a skull mask covered his face.

What struck Miyu the most about the Aquans was their facial paint; each and every one of them the light touched bore a third eye painted on their foreheads.

The band finished their ceremonial tune, and an Aquan crept to the middle of the stage, sitting down with a glass bowl. He took a limestone rod, dipped it in a smaller bowl of water, and proceeded to rub it against the lip of larger one. Miyu didn't understand the point of his actions until a strange noise reached her ears. The frog circled the rod along the outside of the bowl, causing a ringing sound to fill the air. While always at the same pitch, its volume rose and fell, sometimes eerily quiet, while at others so loud it pierced Miyu's eardrums.

The resonating glass continued to sing, but now the throng of Aquans joined it. They chanted or hummed with deep, rumbling voices that shook the cave. Miyu couldn't understand the words, but the language sounded similar to Chasme's own utterances—ancient Aquan.

Then one of the musicians struck an iron gong, and the chanting died off. The purple-skinned Aquan stepped to the front of the stage and raised his hands. He proclaimed some choice words in the ancient tongue and lifted a small cup no bigger than a shot glass to his lips. Miyu felt her muscles seize up when she laid eyes on it; the contents of the cup were a faint, neon yellow liquid. In response, the rest of the amphibian gathering raised similar cups, as if it were a toast. Then, as one, they drank the mixture.

 _Do they know what will happen to them?!_

The musician began circling the glass bowl again, the resonance penetrating even to Miyu's bones. The ringing came and went in waves, but never completely vanished. The Aquans closed their eyes and lowered their heads, until all that remained were the lifeless painted eyes staring out of their foreheads. They struck up another ritual chant again, singing in tandem with the glass.

After a few minutes Miyu witnessed a change in their figures. From afar she noticed dark specks appearing on their foreheads, but had to peer down at the men directly below her to look more closely. She gasped; something was emerging from beneath their skin. Little black beads pushed up through their foreheads, covered by thinner and thinner layers of milky skin. Finally the bubbles emerged onto the surface, revealing small, beady pupils surrounded by golden irises and thin lids.

Third eyes. Actual third eyes.

Miyu stumbled back from the edge but crashed into a table behind her. Some of the articles toppled to the floor—one of which was a radio. The device must have landed on a volume knob or the power switch, as it began blasting a frantic song at full volume.

" _...un, run, run, run!  
They'll never catch me, you'll never catch me  
Run, run, run, run!  
I won't let you take my life!"_

 _Oh, shit!_

Miyu scrambled to find the radio in the dark, then felt all over its surface for the power or volume controls. After much too long she located the knob and twisted it all the way off. The static-bathed song stopped, but so had the Aquans' chants. Miyu slowly raised her eyes above the railing, peering down on the Aquans.

She caught the last few heads turning towards her. Their third eyes gleamed in the torch-light, staring in no direction and every direction at once.

The leader of the Aquans pointed a shaking finger at her. He opened his mouth unearthly wide, and emitted a ghastly croaking screech.

The crowd of frogs scattered in every direction, pouring from the cavern down secondary passages and exits. Miyu could hear the thunderous sound of their slimy feet slapping the ground or hands sliding along the walls. Realizing she was only two passages and a flight of stairs away from the atrium herself, she took off across the balcony and through the door at the other end.

The hunt was on.

Upon first entering the cave Miyu upheld the utmost secrecy, stealthily sneaking through the cavernous halls. But now she threw caution to the wind and raced through the passages. The drumming footsteps of the Aquans always bit at her heels, urging her on. The small circle of light her wrist unit cast and her unfamiliarity with the tunnels hindered her progress. She could only see ten feet in front of her, often tripping over rocks and stalagmites or slipping in puddles of water.

She tried circling around to follow her way points back to the surface, but every time she sought a path leading backwards a new group of Aquans appeared to cut her off. They knew the cave system better than she did. They were driving her deeper and deeper into the catacombs.

Miyu slid to a stop in front of a sheer wall.

 _Dead end!_

She turned around to head back, but the glow cast by her pursuers' torches drew ever closer. Gulping, she planted her feet, drew her blaster, and prepared to gun as many down as she could.

The first torch-bearing Aquan rounded the corner, and Miyu blasted him without hesitation. His torch flew forward, casting a brighter light over the room she occupied. Miyu stepped backwards and nearly tripped as her foot met open air—only to splash into a body of water a foot below. She regained her balance and noticed a stream carving its way through the chamber, flowing from a small gap between two boulders and into a large drainage system further down. So there was an exit after all.

Miyu holstered her blaster and took off down the stream, soon finding a wide open drainage pipe wide enough for her to stand upright in. She jumped into the pipe and sprinted down it, kicking up water as she ran. Even though she couldn't see the end she ran ahead at full tilt. There had to be a way out on the other side.

Without warning she scuffed her head and ears on the top of the drainage pipe. Was it getting thinner?

The sounds of the chanting Aquans echoed down the tunnel, magnified in her ears as they bounced off the cylindrical walls.

Miyu hunched over so she didn't scrape her head against the ceiling again. She couldn't run as fast but was still able to progress at a swift pace. She seemed to be keeping the same distance between herself and the Aquans.

Her heart sank when she realized the pipe narrowed even further. The farther she went the thinner it shrank, forcing her down onto all fours. At this point her claustrophobia flared up, bringing with it the worry of becoming lodged in the ever narrowing pipe. It didn't help that a stream of water actively flowed over her hands and knees.

Heavy breathing and angry cries echoed behind her; the monstrous horde was almost upon her. And still Miyu found the drainage pipe narrowing. It grew so small she had to wiggle forward on her belly, the icy cave water threatening to drown her. Then her worst fears came true.

She was stuck.

Her shoulders were too wide for the tunnel, and still she could not see the end. The water began to pile up all around her, as she acted like a massive clog. It rushed into her nostrils and mouth with each new wave the Aquans sent her way.

 _No... no!_

She felt a pair of strong hands grasp at her boots, but she violently kicked them away.

 _I have to end this now!_

She tried to wiggle her hands free, but they were pinned between her chest and the sewer floor. The Aquan renewed his attempt to grab her, and she felt his hands closing around her ankles.

 _This is my last chance..._

Pressing her back up against the top of the pipe, she managed to squeeze enough room for her hand to maneuver in. She bent her arm at an unnatural angle until she felt the grip of her blaster at her finger tips.

It felt like a heart attack and drowning at the same time. The intermittent surges of water cut off her oxygen supply, but her galloping heart demanded every breath of it.

 _Please..._

She managed to draw her blaster and close her fingers around it, but now she didn't know where to fire. Her stomach? Her heart? Her neck?

Miyu tried turning the barrel around to face her gut, but there wasn't enough room. She began to sob, tears streaming down her face and mixing with the sewer water.

"Please!" she screamed with failing breath.

The Aquan began the process of dragging her back through the pipe.

Miyu wedged the blaster between the sewer floor and her stomach and pulled the trigger. A bright flash blinded her eyes, and the report of the gun deafened her ears. She felt a stinging sensation in her belly, and the water rushing past her nose smelled like iron. Then the pain kicked in with full force, and her stomach muscles clenched around her burning organs.

Maybe the shot did the trick, or maybe it didn't. She was bleeding out, but she wasn't losing blood fast enough. She shoved her face into the rushing water, hoping to drown. Why wasn't she just dead already?

But she had failed. The amphibians behind her formed a chain and dragged her back out of the pipe. She felt relieved to be free of the confining, suffocating space, but those feelings were dashed by her self-inflicted wound and the knowledge that she was at the mercy of the cult of Aquans.

* * *

)◯(

* * *

The frogs carried her back through the tunnels and deposited her in a sort of dungeon room. They took her possessions and shackled her arms to the stone wall. Now they would leave her to rot away, dying to whatever took her first: the loss of blood from her shoulder and stomach, infection, or hunger and thirst. Her head slumped to her chest. There was no escaping this death, but at least they left her necklace—what Chasme called the "Menote."

"Hello?" a timid voice asked in the darkness.

Miyu's ears shot up, and she brimmed with hope.

"Fay, is that you?"

"Miyu!"

The spaniel erupted into a cascade of tears. "I've been so worried I'd never see you again! I was so scared all this time..."

It was hard for Miyu to form sentences through the intense pain, but knowing it was Fay gave her strength.

She hushed her teammate. "Shh, Fay. We'll be alright. I'm sure whatever's going on is some big mistake or practical joke. You have to admit the way these frogs are painted up is kinda funny."

Even through her tears, Fay giggled. She was thankful to have Miyu back.

"Say, what happened to you? At the start of the eclipse I left Chasme's tent and you were gone!"

"That's where they grabbed me," Fay exclaimed. "Several of these goons dragged me behind Chasme's tent where no one could see. Then they tied me up and shoved me inside a bag and just carried me out. Can you believe no one noticed?!"

"You can always trust a large crowd of people to fail you," Miyu sighed.

"Say, where have you been?"

Miyu breathed in and out for a few seconds, thinking over her response carefully. Better to not mention Cira.

"Well, Chasme imparted some valuable wisdom on me—or complete bogus. She... she said this shell necklace is supposed to keep me alive, and my having it means I have to defeat the "Enslaver". Funny, all that stuff in the tunnel of love seemed ridiculous, but after listening to her... and seeing these Aquans... I believe it."

"Miyu... Miyu I'm worried. There were two other Cornerians here—canines like me. It was one woman and her kid. First they came for the mom, and then... and then they took her son! What're they doing to us?! I can't help but think of that scene at the end of the tunnel. Do you remember? Where they were torturing us off-worlders?"

"Fay," Miyu gasped for breath, fighting to stay awake now, "Fay listen to me. Everything I told you so far has been true. Once I die, today will reset, and I won't take us anywhere near the festival. I've been through this several times, and I swear to you I'll take us both off of Badwash and never come back. Even if these Aquans have to die at Gladys' hands, they can get fucked for all I care. They've never done anything for us. They hate our guts."

Miyu swallowed and breathed some more. She licked her lips.

"But as soon as I die, we'll both be transported back to the moment we landed on Badwash. I'll still remember this, but you won't. For you, none of this hell will have happened. Whatever they do to you, you'll forget it. So, I guess what I'm saying is..."

She searched for Fay's eyes in the dark, but could only identify her pale silhouette.

"...Stay strong, Fay."

Her friend remained silent before replying, "Thanks, Miyu. For your sake, I will. Just... when you see me on the other side, remember what to tell me."

""Hey there princess, need a hand?""

"Precisely," Fay chuckled.

A telltale orange glow approached the dungeon, followed by the screech of iron hinges. Three figures walked into the prison; the purple Aquan with the skull mask, and two guards flanking him. The elder, wine-colored frog halted in front of Miyu. He stooped over, placing the tip of his ceremonial staff at her neck. Using the end he caught the chord of Miyu's necklace and lifted the pendent out of her shirt. The polished shell caught and reflected the light of the lamps.

"So dis is de fabled Menote, de hand of de shrine maidens," he croaked. "In my profession, chou learn such simple ornaments hold great power. I axe chou, off-worlder, are chou prepared to put de weapon of de shrine maidens to de test?"

"I'm ready," Miyu declared. "But first, who are you? Some kind of cult? How much of Badwash is in on this?"

"Chou are speaking to de high priest of de Inspired," the elder proclaimed, "Xema Tasma! Myself and de followers of de tird eye keep de ancient coostoms, even when our brodders forget de old ways. We count many of de citizens of Badwash among our number, but pride ourselves of our secrecy."

"I saw you drink the yellow chemical back there in the cavern," Miyu said. "But unlike the others, it didn't turn you into monsters. Well, besides the extra eyes, of course. Why?"

"De Inspired drink de nectar of de slain god, passed down trough generations of Aquans. We drink it in his memory, and so dat we may continue to see what remains unseen."

"But he's the Enslaver!" Miyu challenged.

"I see chou have been talking to dat witch, Chasme Badoor. She is a heretic, and unwelcome here. De slain god brought us sight and guided us out of chaos. If anyting, he is de _liberator._ De shrine maidens mistook his dominion for tyranny, and wounded him. Chou, off-worlder, are just as ignorant and misguided. Chou cannot hope to have de Sight." He gestured to his third eye, which poked out of the forehead above his skull mask. "Dus, we de Inspired will kill de spawn of de shrine maiden, and destroy de last treat to our god. Wit chou out of de way, he will surely awaken and show himself, to guide us once again."

Miyu breathed out. "Okay. Bring it on."

Xema Tasma laughed and looked sideways at Fay. "Chou are lucky dis cat showed up, or we would have sacrificed chou instead. Now she has taken chour place... until chour own execution and offering to de slain god." He snapped his fingers, and one of the guards approached Miyu with a cup of the neon yellow chemical. "Now drink de blood chour predecessors spilled."

The cup was larger and the liquid brighter than she witnessed the Aquans drinking earlier. "Why the extra dosage?"

"Over de years, we de Inspired drink but small amounts of our god's blood. Dat is how we open our true eyes. But for dose dat are too greedy... deir mortal flesh is unable to hold such a portion of de divine. Dey go... crazy. But dey still summon more of our god's presence, and are derefore a wordy sacrament. Chou will summon him to our altar, dat we may be closer to him. Now, drink."

The guard lifted the cup to Miyu's lips, and her spirit was too broken to fight it. After all, she didn't know what it was like to succumb to the infection. She wasn't able to ask Fay or any of the Darling family. It was a valuable experience, she told herself.

But she almost gagged at the flavor and texture of the solution. It was thick, and clung to her throat as it went down. It had that briny taste to it—the same taste of oysters or that cornichello she ate earlier that day. If she turned quickly enough, maybe she wouldn't be conscious of the pain they put her through.

Xema Tasma pointed his staff at Miyu's shackles. "Free her, and take her to de altar room."

The two guards bowed and unlocked Miyu's cuffs. She was weak from blood loss and prior exertion, so they had to support her out of the dungeon.

The last words she heard from Fay were, "You be strong too, Miyu!"

* * *

◯✹(

* * *

By the end of their journey to the altar room, the Aquans were completely carrying her. They laid her down on a cold stone slab, stripping off her jacket. Once again they bound her wrists and additionally her ankles to chain braces on the altar. There wasn't much leeway for her to squirm around at all. Clearly it was something they took into account, which did not bode well for her.

The room held several smaller tables, some empty, and others... occupied. The screams of their victims expired long ago. Three sets of bleachers rose in a triangle shape around the altars, but hers was the largest and center stage. Aquans from before filled the rows of seats, ogling her with three-eyed stares. They expected quite a show. After all, she was the descendant of the shrine maidens. Weren't there supposed to be three, though?

Miyu wasn't sure what time of day it was, but the eclipse had ended. The sun must have been rising over the horizon, as a shaft of harsh light penetrated through a hole in the ceiling and struck her eyes, blinding her. She blinked and closed her eyes to protect their pupils, but observed her entire vision going white. Maybe it was the blood or the infection, but she felt her mind slipping in and out of her body.

Xema Tasma and some surgeon-looking Aquans appeared at her side. She saw the witch doctor or shaman or whatever he was lift his arms and begin speaking in the old Aquan tongue, but his meaning was lost on her. He did have to step aside for a troop of Aquans carrying a series of bamboo half-pipes; they set them up on stands, leading from one side of the room to the other, passing right by Miyu's alter. After they were in place, a stream of water began pouring down them.

Her greatest trial had begun. One way or another, she would live through the torture. In fact, she promised to come back and murder every last one of these cultists. Her pain was an inevitability of fate, the consequence of events out of her control now. There was no use struggling or fighting it. It just had to happen and come to pass. If she could allow herself to float away, if she could detach herself from her current pain she would make her passing bearable.

A slat closed over the hole in the ceiling, decapitating the shaft of light that blinded Miyu.

 _In the newfound darkness she felt her senses fail, and she momentarily drifted off to another place. Physically, spiritually, mentally—she couldn't tell. It felt like she was levitating somewhere beyond the corporeal world. Out in space, hovering over Aquas and its moon, taking in all of their vastness. The emerald-colored satellite began to transit across its parent, blocking out the sun._

Miyu was rudely summoned back to the world of the living by a tormenting pain in her stomach. She looked down her contorting body to find one of the two Aquan surgeons had stabbed a knife into her abdomen. It sunk in about an inch, bruising her organs and releasing a current of blood that bubbled up to the surface. Miyu's jaw flew open and she let forth an otherworldly scream. She tried to curl into a fetal position to protect her stomach, but the restrictive cuffs bit into her appendages and cruelly held her in place.

A grin slipped out of the surgeon's false mask of piety, and he carefully sliced the blade up her exposed abdomen. She could feel it rending her skin in two, parting her belly's flesh like a curtain. She tried to lie still to decrease any pain she might inflict on herself, but the burning knife caused her to twitch and recoil involuntarily. She wondered if this was how C-sections felt, and how any woman alive could bear it.

 _The shock from having her stomach cut open shoved her back into the twilight realm—_ _or maybe she was succumbing to the infection, battling a nameless monster for possession of her body. Bayoon continued to blot out the sun, only now orange flashes sparked and danced_ _across_ _its underside._ _Earthquakes rocked the satellite, and the moon's crust seemed to peel back, exposing the fiery mantle beneath._

The two surgeons hunched over her stomach, leering as they peeled back twin flaps of skin to expose the organs underneath. She felt them stab nail-sized pins into the flaps to hold them open, pinning them to her lower chest. It felt like one of them pierced or grazed her ribs, making Miyu contort even further.

With Miyu powerless to stop them, the surgeons sliced and prodded around her abdominal cavity, heedless of her pleading sobs and screams. She bit her lip to blood and breathed shallow, erratic breaths. Her arms and legs wrenched against the bindings, but saw no progress. Eventually the surgeons found a particular lump of tissue and looked pleased with themselves. They sawed away at the fleshy hoses clinging to it, and lifted a dripping glob from her open stomach. They were taunting her with it. Through the excruciating torment Miyu's thoughts screamed that this was wrong, all wrong. She should be dead by now—unless this was the effects of the rabid chemical, condemning her to a living hell even when her body failed. She watched powerlessly with bloodshot eyes as they placed the clump of organs in the bamboo stream, where it turned the rushing water blood red. They let go, and the glob of flesh sailed away. That was part of her, wasn't it?

The doctors set to work again, and she wondered how much more of this she could take before finally expiring and breathe the sweet relief of death. She wished she wasn't conscious for this. She wished she had never been born—that she never experienced any of the joys of life as long as this single universe-destroying moment never existed. _But now_ _the chamber was gone again, replaced by the vision of Bayoon._ _Large rocks and pieces of the molten interior tore free from the moon, floating out into space in_ _bubbling_ _, molten clumps._ _The satellite continued to empty out its contents until it had nothing left to give the universe._ Xema Tasma himself, this time, was lowering something into her stomach. It looked like a shell, or two halves—a clam shell? He lowered the mollusc into the gaping hole in her stomach, which burned like boiling oil. She was aware of her own rabid struggling, but didn't have any control over it. _Looking down on Aquas, she saw a large, shadowy object rising from the seas. Its silhouette looked like one of the misshapen moons at the outer rim of the Lylat._ _It continued its ascent, drawing ever closer to the moon._ _It approached the open hole in its side, slowly..._

 _M_ _iyu followed the object into Bayoon's core. She found a long, black tunnel ahead of her, constantly narrowing. But at the end was light. She raced down the passage, feeling a breeze come from the other end._

" _Don't worry, Miyu. The worst is almost over._ _But_ _you still have something left to give."_

 _Miyu broke free from the tunnel, emerging into an amber forest_ _permeated by_ _blinding light._


	10. Whose Name Is Written

_A/N : Appears I haven't updated since school started, huh? I've had some things happening since classes resumed, such as my previous laptop of four years busting (beyond even how broken it already was). I managed to recover all my files, and I built a new beefy desktop with a friend's help, but I'm still waiting on a monitor. So in the meantime I'm using my family's shared laptop._

 _In my original draft, chapter 10 quickly bloated in size and turned into like 16k words. I ended up splitting this chapter into 10 and 11, and combining what I had planned for chapters 11 and 12. So this arc will still only take up three large chapters. Good news being, chapter 11 is mostly done, I just have to edit it before posting._

 _Also : I did something different for this chapter and composed a song for it! I sampled "Omoi Daite"_ _from_ Higurashi's _OST, and goreshit's remix, "when the cicadas cry". You can listen to it before, during, or after you read the chapter, though it won't make sense until you've actually read it. I'll link to the song on my profile. I'd actually like to do this from now on, composing a song for each chapter. Hopefully I'll go back and do it for the older ones, too. Ahem, anyway..._

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Whose Name is Written in Overexposed Photos**

* * *

 _The tremendous amount of light blinded Miyu at first, confronting her with a solid white wall. Then the luminous aura faded, revealing the new scene surrounding her. It was anything but bright and rosy. The bows of the aspens which had once pleasantly waved in the breeze now quivered under its mighty force; the blue sky overshadowed by storm clouds, and the peaceful forest trail swept with turbulent eddies of leaves._

 _Miyu was all too familiar with this forest hollow. She wish she wasn't._

 _The last time she was here, a snake had wrapped itself around her neck, choking her. Now it was gone, leaving Miyu to kneel all alone on the hillside. Her eyes combed around the grove, feeling as if she had forgotten something. A trail of black smoke rose up to the gray clouds, signaling disaster far off in the woods. The creek rushed by at the bottom of the mound, beside the path; its haste no longer of joy, but a product of fear. The carcass of a picnic sat atop the hill. Crumbs on empty plates were its remains. She had shared it with someone..._

 _Lily!_

 _Miyu looked all over the hillside, but couldn't find her sister._

 _Cupping her hands over her mouth, she shouted, "Lily!"_

 _Her voice came out higher-pitched than she remembered. It echoed far away, between the trees, but no one answered._

" _Lily!" Miyu screamed again, with the same result._

 _The snake had done its work._

 _All that remained of her sister was her out-dated camera. The device sat slanted on the hillside, where Lily had dropped it._

 _With tears in her eyes, Miyu crawled over to the polaroid camera, opening the cache of photos it contained. A stack fell out upon the leaf-covered grass, and Miyu desperately searched through them._

 _On top: the cargo ship, before it downed in the forest._

 _Miyu tossed the picture aside. The next image was of the creek flowing behind her, populated with yellow leaves._

 _She flung it away. Next in the stack: the shell of one of the clams Lily ate, and Miyu had picked clean for her._

 _A fond memory, but Miyu discarded it as well. The next photograph was..._

 _The freighter again._

 _...But that didn't make sense. Lily had only taken one picture of it._

 _The creek came next._

 _Then the clam._

 _Growing frustrated and ever hopeless, Miyu flipped faster and faster through the pictures, but they were only of those three objects, and only in that same order. The ship, the creek, and the shell._

 _Miyu threw the entire stack aside. She opened the camera and dumped out the blank stash of undeveloped photos. They fluttered down onto the grass, and the bright sunlight peeking through the clouds seemed to strike them. Before her eyes those same three images materialized on each and every one of the photographs._

 _A horrendous cacophony of snapping wood reached Miyu's ears. The sound seemed to come from every direction at once, as if the bones of the trees were breaking._

 _Frightened, Miyu looked up from the photographs._

 _She was surrounded by eyes._

 _From the old, weathered bark of the aspens stared black eyes—the scars left by branches that had snapped off. They blinked open and closed, searching the hillside until they found the lynx._

 _Miyu swung to her left and right, but was only confronted by more and more eyes spreading up the trunks of the aspens. She sprang to her feet, hunching over to run somewhere, but realized she had nowhere to flee to, and nowhere to hide. No matter where she ran in the forest the eyes would always be there, observing her from every angle, numbering in the thousands. Watching. Calculating. Waiting. Cursing._

 _Miyu screamed. She crumpled onto the hilltop, curling into a fetal position and rocking back and forth. She jammed her eyes closed._

" _Go away!" she cried at them. "Don't look at me! Stop looking at me!"_

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

A bang. Two. Several more.

Miyu lay curled up in the seat of her cockpit, crying into her knees.

She couldn't stop balling her eyes out. A demon had taken a hold of her, giving her vision after vision of her death. He shoved the frightful images into her mind, one after the other, and pried her eyelids open to look. No matter what Miyu did, she couldn't unsee those sights, or forget the momentous pain she went through, or escape their hounding memories.

The eye of oil forming in Chasme's seeing bowl... Cira falling into the horde or monsters... the opening of the Aquan's third eyes... crawling into the tunnel that lead to nowhere and shooting herself, only to fumble with her own suicide...

Miyu let the sobs wrack over her body, and she screamed as loud as she could.

...Those butchers, picking through _her_ for what felt like hours...

Worst of all those surreal nightmares continued. They always confronted her after she died and before she woke up again. Probably the most painful of all these memories was losing her sister, all those years ago. Perhaps that was what death was like; reliving old memories she couldn't change.

Miyu sat shaking in her chair, her pant legs and knee fur now soaked. The leather upholstery creaked and stretched beneath her weight. The sunlight shafted in through the canopy, heating the ship's interior. The cockpit muffled outside noises, leaving a calm quiet. All familiar sensations that dispelled her memories and grounded her back in reality.

She was safe. For the moment, at least.

Once her sobs quieted down she heard that song playing over the radio again—that same fucking song taunting her each time, greeting her whenever she woke up. _You thought you escaped, but now you ended up back where you started, only to die all over again._

Slowly, Miyu's despair turned to rage.

"' _Cause you're the only jewel I see  
Yeah you're the only jewel I see  
'Cause you're the only jewel I see_

 _Jewel I s—"_

The radio set exploded in a shower of sparks, revealing a gaping hole in the middle. A trail of smoke curled to the top of her canopy, leaving a gray film over it.

For a few more seconds, Miyu pointed her shaking blaster at the radio unit. Once she confirmed its silence, she set her gun down and breathed deeply.

She desperately needed to blow someone's fucking head off.

But something was wrong. Each of the three previous times she'd awakened on the wharf, Fay had been right there to welcome her rebirth. So where was she? Nobody ever acted differently upon the repetitions, unless they had a necklace and could retain their memories.

Miyu popped her canopy and hopped out of her ship. She landed on the wooden deck, the boards squealing in protest. Fay's ship was there, and its windshield open, but... no Fay. Was she hiding somewhere, waiting to play a practical joke? Or had she gone into town ahead of her?

Miyu hurried along the pier, running towards the mainland. She had barely set out when she noticed a crumpled body at halfway down the pier, and a second body slumped against the inside of the sales hut.

The lynx slid to a stop, kneeling beside the first body. It was the Basset hound—the forest ranger who was always talking to the wharf master whenever she arrived. She'd said brief hellos to him and his friend each time she passed. Miyu began to find him a nuisance, just like that song; his repeated presence a sign of something she couldn't change, no matter how many times she relived that morning. But now, seeing that usually constant element changed like this...

Miyu gasped. The hound was bleeding from two bullet wounds in his torso. She propped his head on her lap, searching her memory for his name.

"Jeff!" she shouted at him. "Jeff, are you okay? What happened?"

The Basset hound controlled his breathing, working to take deep, measured breaths.

"Pirate hooligans," he whispered, the words causing him more physical pain. "They sailed up to the pier in boats, shot me and Rich, and they took your friend—the Cornerian girl." Jeff's eyes winced shut, and he coughed. "How did... how did you know my—"

"Where did they go?!" Miyu demanded. "Where'd they take her?"

"West, along the coast," Jeff coughed out.

Miyu felt a burning urge to set out after the pirates and rescue Fay, but she was torn between that and helping Jeff. She couldn't just leave him and Rich to bleed out on the dock.

"Look, I'll call you an ambulance or something. Don't move!"

Jeff grabbed her arm, stopping her from placing the call on her wrist comm. "No, I took care of that. Help is on its way."

"Then I have to go after them!"

"No! The authorities will handle them. Just check on Rich for me, please? I can't move from here, and he hasn't answered me."

Miyu looked off down the wharf, in the direction Jeff said the pirates headed. She clenched her fists, but ultimately decided to restrain herself. She gently lay the ranger's head back on the dock, using his hat as a pillow. "Alright, I'll see if he's okay."

Miyu ran down the length of the dock, boots pounding on the wooden boards. When she reached the wharf shed she found Rich the hog, slumped against the back wall. A trail of blood covered the wooden slats behind him. He showed no signs of movement.

"R-Rich?" Miyu timidly asked. She took his wrist and felt for a pulse, but found not even the smallest hint of pumping blood. Rich hadn't been as fortunate as Jeff.

How could things go so wrong so soon? She had barely restarted that day, and already Fay was kidnapped and two of her acquaintances on Bayoon were dead or near death. The pirates' attack was even more disconcerting; somehow they knew where Miyu and Fay first arrived on Bayoon. It wasn't just a chance attack. Cira must have given Gladys the necklace, so she like Miyu could relive the same day without losing her memories. That meant each time she died and awoke in Badwash, the pirates could be there, waiting for her. What if Gladys had fighters bomb her ship each time she woke up? That would effectively lock her in place, but it also meant Gladys would have to restart each time Miyu did, meaning that wasn't helpful. She'd have to find a way to extract Miyu's necklace without killing her first. That meant...

Miyu's wrist comm beeped, signaling she had received a text message. She rose to her feet, and with trembling fingers she opened the message. The short text contained only a series of numbers, together forming a pair of coordinates pointing to a location on Bayoon. Miyu tapped the coordinates, and her map application opened to display their position. They lay west of Badwash Harbor, like Jeff said—between the docks and Mulaboo Marsh. A reticule indicated Fay's personal comm was there as well.

Miyu's wrist unit beeped again, indicating a second message had arrived. Opening it, she read,

 _Bring the necklace here if you want to see Fay MacDane again._

 _Come alone._

Miyu exhaled, unable to stop the shiver she felt. The message confirmed the realization of one of her deepest fears: that the pirates discovered Fay's true identity. After all, the niece of General Pepper was a valuable bargaining chip.

The lynx thought through the situation carefully. There was no guarantee whatsoever that the pirates would release Fay, even if she did hand over the artifact. Miyu wouldn't hesitate to trade the dusty piece of junk for her friend, not for a heartbeat. But Fay was too valuable to the pirates as well. Knowing she was Pepper's niece—the Consulate General of Corneria—Captain Gladys couldn't possibly give her up. Not when she could use Fay to strike a deal with Pepper, ensuring the safety of the pirate fleets after the routing at Sector Z. But knowing Pepper's dedication and honor, he would ultimately refuse such a deal, even if it meant his niece's death. He put Corneria first, that bastard mutt.

Miyu couldn't have that. No. She'd have to devise a way to rescue Fay herself. _Think..._

Miyu's eyes roved over the interior of the shed. Down below the cash register, some of the usually locked drawers lay open a smidge. Pulling one open, it rattled like a treasure chest, filled to the brim with trays of keys. The wharf probably rented watercraft. Digging through the interior, Miyu eventually found a key with a tag that read _Ace Fletcher's speedboat._ Perfect.

Snatching the key from the drawer, she raced back across the dock, intending to grab some supplies from her ship.

On the way she passed Jeff, who called out, "Please, how's Rich? Is he okay?"

Miyu slowed to a stop, her shoulders slumping. Her back faced towards Jeff, but she worked up the resolve and optimism to turn around.

"He'll be okay," Miyu smiled.

It wasn't a lie.

It was a promise.

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

Between Badwash Harbor and Mulaboo Marsh sat a sawmill. It was an old mill, long ago antiquated by modern appliances and more efficient factories. Over the years it fell into disuse, now overgrown with ivy, moss, and vines, practically hidden from sight from the lake. It sat rotting away at the back of a small inlet, into which poured a creek. Its proximity to the lake made it the ideal location to float logs down and move cut timber with tugboats, back in the day. But now the glass windows were broken, the wood decayed, saw blades rusted, and the inlet covered in overgrown foliage. And while the cabin was well concealed, approaching watercraft would also be hard to spot among the rushes.

On the mill's porch overlooking the inlet's mouth sat a wall of tree stumps, branches, and cut timber, shielding the porch from view. Anyone passing by would judge the mill to be abandoned, as usual, but a keen eye could spot the black barrels of conventional kinetic rifles or the metallic muzzles of laser-based weapons. Behind the wall of decaying timber hunched a squad of pirates: Borro the pangolin, Iggy the rat, and two other grunts—all lying in wait.

"Where is she?" Iggy asked impatiently. "Don't she know her friend's loife is on the line?"

"She'll be here," Borro softly growled, intently searching the mouth of the inlet. "Gladys assured me."

"Well, are we h'actually gonna 'and over the girl if she gives us the necklace? Seems like a waste of Pepper's niece. Girl's also a fine-looker—not that Gladys wouldn't 'ave our 'ides if she found out we 'ad... the relations with her, heh."

"We're pirates, Iggy," the pangolin answered, not sparing him a glance.

Iggy cocked his head and twisted a finger through his ear. "See now, you act like that's all ya need to give as an answer. But being pirates isn't that simple—'specially when it places us in contradictory states. See, being pirates an' all, we're known to be treacherous and dishonest, so we can't go through with a promise. We're also not ones to follow rules, which raises the question of whether pirates even 'ave to follow rules to be pirates, which in an' of isself isn' exactly pirate-like. Likewise, the pirate thing to do with that girl back there is to ravage her, all savage-like; but Gladys is keeping us from doing that. See, either way, we're sacrificing being "pirates" to save our pelts."

Borro turned to the rat. "Iggy, as soon as that woman shows up I'm taking the necklace from her, shoving this gun into her stomach, and blowing a hole clean through. Shoot first, ask metaphysical pirate questions later."

Iggy felt disappointed that Borro had neither the intellect nor the patience to take part in a philosophical discourse on the essence of "pirateness". But he replied, "Yeah. Whatever you say, Borro."

"I spotted somethin'!" one of the other grunts whispered. "Hush up!"

Borro snapped his fingers. "Just when I looked away! Where is she?"

The pirate pointed through the reeds, dead center of the inlet. "It's a speedboat—and it's headed our way."

"Right on time. Now, lay low and stay quiet until I move first."

The pirates waited behind cover while the speedboat glided through the inlet. Eventually they heard and felt a _thunk_ as it bumped up against the side of the porch. The engines were off; the girl must have piloted it in on momentum alone, to stay silent.

Borro sprang up from cover, training his rifle on the boat. "Alright miss! Show yourself, and keep those hands in the air!"

Iggy and the two others climbed up on the timber and boarded the boat, but they found the deck empty.

"She ain't 'ere, Borro!"

The pangolin frowned. He hopped on board, scanning the inside deck for signs of the feline. "What do you mean, you numskulls can't find her?"

"She isn't on board. I don't see 'er in the water nearby, either. We woulda heard her jump off."

Borro kept searching the deck, confused. "Why would she send an unmanned..." He trailed off upon seeing the red gas tank, and the spherical device affixed to it.

"Oooooo..."

* * *

Unbeknownst to the pirates, Miyu was on a small cliff bank overlooking the inlet. She lay on her stomach, pressed low to the ground and peering through two bushes. Once she was sure all four of the enemies were on board her floating trap, she jammed a finger into a remote control device.

The grenade affixed to the gas tank exploded, causing a fiery orange ball to erupt into the sky. The noise from the grenade was deafening, and Miyu felt the heat from the chain reaction of explosions all the way at her removed position, 40 meters away. The blast literally tore the boat apart, with pieces of metal flying in all directions. The bodies previously aboard the speedboat flew into the drink, sending up columns of water along with other falling debris. After the initial explosion, the boat continued to burn, and flames danced upon a body that had landed on the porch.

When all but the crackling fires fell quiet, and not a pirate's curse was heard from the bodies floating in the water, Miyu rose from her vantage point. She ran around the inside rim of the inlet, careful not to slip down the leaf-covered inclines and into the water. When she approached the mill she slowed down, exercising more caution. There was the off-hand chance one or two of the pirates had survived, no matter how unlikely. Fay wasn't anywhere in sight; hopefully she was in the cabin, but that might mean someone was guarding her. Wouldn't they have come out by now, or ran?

Miyu padded across the wooden porch, careful to duck below the mill's window. The three bodies in the water didn't stir, so she bent down to observe the smoking corpse on the deck.

It was Borro, the leader of the pirates. The pangolin lay face-up on a stack of timber, smoke rising from his blackened clothes and skin. Scraps of metal pierced through his scales, drawing blood. His face mangled beyond recognition—not that he was a handsome man to look at in the first place. Fis chest failed to rise and fall, which to Miyu was the important part. Still, seeing his ruined corpse lying there like that... something _she_ had caused. Borro hadn't personally done her any harm, not like Iggy and Aziz—

"Ugh, now you've done it!"

Miyu looked up in fright at the sound of the hissing voice. Vetna, the leopard gecko, stepped from the door to the shack. Miyu's heart leapt when she saw she had Fay in-tow; hands bound behind her back and mouth gagged in classic fashion. Fay's shimmering eyes flashed up and caught Miyu's, signaling her own fear at the hands of the reptile. Miyu would have charged Vetna right then and there, but she was holding a blaster in her other hand.

"Borro was my ticket out of here," Vetna continued. "That idiot slob brought me my paycheck every week, and now you've gone an' killed him! Oh you'll pay for that."

Miyu stood up from Borro's smoking corpse. "Let her go," she ordered in a measured tone.

Vetna's snout wrinkled and she cocked her head to one side. "Listen girl, you don't know how this works. I've caught you with your panties down, and I've got your cute friend right here. If you want me to let her go you better hand over a certain item first."

"Let me guess, Vetna. Captain Gladys ordered you to steal a necklace from me?"

Vetna balked at Miyu's accurate prediction, her gun lowering for an instant. They hadn't mentioned Gladys' name in the message, and she had no way of knowing the lizard's. "So it _is_ true—"

Miyu took advantage of her astonishment to draw her own weapon, but froze with it pointed at Vetna.

"Hey, put that down! Or..."

"Or _what_?" Miyu growled. "You'll shoot me? Do _you_ know how this works?"

Vetna gulped, her gun wavering as it pointed at Miyu. She held back from firing. That confirmed Gladys had warned her of the necklace's ability, and that she'd need to get it off of Miyu before killing her. But Vetna adopted a smug grin and placed her gun against the back of Fay's head.

"I think you better drop your gun, bitch. Or do you want to gamble against my reflexes?"

Fay's head bent forward, and she stood on the balls of her feet to ease the pressure of the barrel, but Vetna held her close by her bonds.

The sight of the gun jammed into Fay's skull ignited something in Miyu, and she instinctively crouched in preparation for action. She stared daggers at Vetna, and pulled back her lips to expose her teeth.

"Let her go," she ordered.

"Try me, fur-licker," Vetna begged. She twisted Fay's arms behind her back, causing them to bend at painful angles. She pressed harder with the gun, digging the nozzle into the nape of Fay's neck. The combined pain and pressure brought tears to Fay's eyes, and she whimpered through her gag.

Miyu felt her back arching and hair standing on end. Her protective instincts for Fay pulsed through her blood, begging her to act. She could barely hold back.

"Do you really want to wager you can shoot me before I shoot her?"

Fay's trembling eyes sought out Miyu, and she pleaded wordlessly against any rash action. She knew that look in Miyu's eyes all to well. She'd seen them before—only they were someone else's. Only violence could follow.

"I've lost Fay three times now," Miyu explained. "But it feels like a dozen. What difference would a hundred more times make? There's no reason for me to fear for her. But you have every reason to fear. Shoot me now, and I'll come right back. The difference is, I know where you were and how you'll act. But you will forget this ever happened. Shoot Fay, and you've already lost. You're at a dead end, Vetna."

By the fear in her expression, Vetna comprehended her situation, and she didn't like it. She drew the gun from the back of Fay's head, pointing it at Miyu. She licked her lips. "Stay back, or I'll just wound you first, filling you up with burn holes before I take—"

Fay smashed her head into Vetna's chin, clamping the lizard's jaws on her tongue. Vetna cried out, her gun pointing off from Miyu.

All of the lynx's will concentrated on her trigger finger. How easy it would be to end the standoff and shoot Vetna right then and there. Only the voice of reason told her not to; she might hit Fay. But with each passing second, that voice grew fainter and farther away. Soon, only its echos reached her mind. She was so intently focused that she didn't blink once. The edges of her vision began to blur, and bright specks of light mixed with blossoming shadows in the center. The intertwined forms of Fay and Vetna shifted, phasing in and out like ghosts through water. The more she allowed her consciousness to wander, the more they clarified into a second image—a mirage. Fay's pearly white fur grew cream-colored, and her muzzle flattened into that of another, smaller feline. Her captor took on the form of an asp, golden-eyed and hissing. Its coils wrapped around the cat's shoulders and hands, its fangs biting at her neck. It wasn't Lylatian. It had no life or soul. It only took that which belonged to others.

Miyu pulled the trigger, and a burning hole exploded in the lizard's face. Fay dropped to the wooden deck a few seconds before the lizard's body lost its balance and fell over. Miyu just stood there, chest heaving, eyes darting erratically about. She could neither focus on Fay's helpless form or the corpse of Vetna beside her.

" _Mmm?"_ Fay's voice came out muffled, but her confusion and concern were evident.

Only fragments of sentences formed in Miyu's mind, each new thought tumbling over and contradicting its predecessor. She had killed someone—but she had killed many times before—this time it was out of rage, which she couldn't control—but her actions saved Fay—she almost _killed_ Fay—but she didn't—she scared her, she showed her the true monster she was—but she needed to become this—

" _Mmm!"_

Miyu snapped out of her panic, realizing Fay was waiting. She stepped over to the spaniel's side, looking down at her. She lay curled up on the floor, feet and hands bound. Her head tilted up towards Miyu. The anguish in her eyes was much clearer to Miyu now, as were the sprinkles of blood and reptile flesh dirtying her cheek. She _had_ frightened her, both with her words and actions. Everything she used to manipulate Vetna had a second-hand effect on her friend. They were inseparable in the moments leading up to and including her death. Miyu had to make amends. Maybe now was the time…

"He-hey there princess. Need a hand?" Miyu squeaked out.

Fay's eyes went wide at that phrase. The tears stopped leaking from her eyes, instead replaced by a look of amazement.

Miyu tried to keep up a smile, hoping her optimistic front would encourage Fay, but it was all a lie. She hadn't enjoyed those moments anymore than Fay did. She knelt by the spaniel's side, setting to work upon her bonds. She removed the gag first.

Fay gasped for breath, spitting out the foul, musty taste of the gag. "Miyu! What… what was all that? They were talking as if that necklace made you invincible, and had something to do with time travel, which is completely unbelievable. I thought they were insane! But then… _you_ show up. And you confirmed everything they were talking about. What do you mean when you said you've seen me die a hundred times? And how did you know—"

"How did I know what James said?" Miyu finished for her. "He saved you from ransomers years back, didn't he? That's why you wanted to become a mercenary and join Star Fox. You were enamored with him and his job."

"But how did you know about that? I never told you!"

"You _did._ What Borro and the others said is true. I've relived this same day three times already—going on four. Think of it like a video game. I've died several times—both of us have. But the world keeps resetting."

"What?! Then why don't I remember any of it?"

Miyu finished untying Fay's hands and set to work on the leg bindings.

"The difference between me and you and the pirates is that I have a necklace, and you all don't. It lets me keep my memories, which gives me an edge over everyone."

"Then how did they know where we'd be? How did they know about you and the necklace?"

"Dammit, would you shut up Fay!" Miyu burst out. The barrage of questions had swirled Miyu down a spiral of thoughts, none of which were good. She had been through this before, and already the repetition grated on her patience. She stood up, leaving the spaniel's legs only halfway untied. "I need to think!"

Fay recoiled, not even daring to untie the bonds herself. Ears flattening, she responded, "Sorry, I… didn't mean to overwhelm you." Then after studying Miyu's worried face she added, "Is there something you aren't telling me? Because you do that to me all the time. Hiding awful things to protect me, that is. You really should be less protective."

"No, it can wait Fay, I just… need to figure out what to do next. I've tried hunting down the pirates in the swamp, I've tried following them to Gladys' hideout, I've tried asking a fortune teller about this stupid shell around my neck, and each time I feel like I get nowhere! It's like I'm all out of options!" She moaned. Tears began seeping from her eyes, and she fixed her watery orbs upon Fay, unable to hide them. "I don't know what to do!" She clenched her fists and closed her eyes. "This feeling is so frustrating, and each new thing I do is more desperate than the last. None of them get any results—except both of us and everyone we meet wind up dead. I feel like I'm making things worse!" She reopened her eyes and her hands, turning the palms to face Fay. "I'm so powerless to do anything."

Fay sat up and stared into Miyu's eyes. "Look, I'm sure we can get through this. I know you! You're not ever going to give up, no matter how difficult or insane a mission... gets… Hey, uh, how long have your eyes been that color?"

Miyu sniffed. "Huh? What color?"

"They're usually blue, like mine. But now they look more brownish—even gold when the sun hits them. Are you one of those people whose eyes change colors?"

"Gold?" Miyu turned to look into the shack's window, staring at her reflection in the dark glass. Her eyes should've been near impossible to see, but for some reason they emitted a faint glow in the smoky surface.

"That's really cool!" Fay exclaimed, seizing the chance to change the subject. "You should've told me how your eyes can change colors earlier. I bet you were popular at… school..." Miyu had turned around and now faced Fay with wide, vacant eyes. "That's… not natural. Is it?"

Miyu didn't respond.

Fay visibly shivered. "Woo! That's actually creepy. Did you ever get the feeling like someone's watching you?"

That feeling of intense focus from when she had shot Vetna returned in full force. She whirled around to check her back, searching the trees around the inlet, but all she found were false-alarm shadows. No one was there, but she still felt that same sensation Fay did. A third presence was with them, when all they could see were Miyu, Fay, and the pirate corpses. If the presence was nowhere _outside_ of her, that meant…

Miyu gulped. She turned back to look at Fay, seeing visions of carnage befall her friend. Violence _she_ caused. She wasn't alone in her head. _It_ was there, reminding her of the cannibalistic zombies hunting Badwash. She… now she was one of them.

"Miyu?" Fay struggled to her feet, which were still bound. She awkwardly shuffled towards Miyu.

The lynx stumbled backwards. "S-stay back! I don't want to hurt you!"

"What's gotten into you? You don't have to be afraid. We're friends, remember?"

"Please, don't come any closer!" Miyu begged.

Fay stopped shuffling. Her eyes narrowed. "What are you not telling me?"

The memory of Fay eating her alive played in Miyu's head, but this time she knew it would be the other way around. She had tolerated one; she wouldn't in a million of these days tolerate the other.

She spun around and took off running. She heard Fay call her name followed by a loud _thump_ from her body hitting the floor. Miyu left the porch and scrambled into the forest, utilizing every second of her head start. She had to get as far away as possible from Fay, for the girl's own safety.

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

The trees and branches whipped by in a blur, some slicing at her cheeks. A film descended over her eyes, playing hypnotic tricks on her vision. Bright rays of light streamed in from between the leaves, illuminating the early morning mists rising from the humid swamp and flooding the wilderness in a golden fog. The leaves steadily changed from green to yellow, as if the changing of the seasons accelerated before her very eyes. The tree trunks and boulders whizzing by her blurred into dark shadows, while the sunlight pierced ever through them, promising escape. The light at the end of the tunnel.

Miyu didn't know how long she ran. She lost track of time as all reason abandoned her. The swamp didn't resemble any part of Badwash she had experienced yet. It more closely resembled the forest of aspens back on her home planet, Katina. The same forest returning in each of her dreams, only now it had invaded her waking life as well.

Fear took hold of Miyu's heart with a grip as cold and as strong as iron. Combined with her concern for Fay's safety was the horror of being alone in a strange forest. Those monsters could already be prowling it; she could practically see them in every clump of yellow leaves that moved unbidden. And momentarily, she would join their ranks.

She ran on, practically feeling the breath of the cannibals on her neck, their jaws snapping at her heels. She leapt over a stream, ducked beneath a rocky overhang, and scurried across a fallen tree. She couldn't stop, or they'd be upon her.

She emerged from the wooded swamp into an open glade, at the center of which rose a small hill. It was covered in a blanket of golden leaves, which warmly glistened in the unobstructed sunlight. She climbed the mound, falling on all fours when she reached the top. She gasped for oxygen, panting and whimpering uncontrollably. She had to rest, even if it meant the apparitions would catch up to her. Even if the monster would take her in her sleep. She looked up from the hill, scanning the surrounding circle of trees for the nightmarish predators. She found none.

Slowly regaining control of her breath, she lay down to cry on the hill. It was all hopeless. She was in over her head from the start; agreeing to track down Black Mamba for the artifacts while also having to protect Fay from her. The old Aquans of Badwash all hated her and wished she and her kind were gone. In the west, the pirates would overwhelm her. In the east, the cult of Aquans would torture and dissect her alive. If she stayed at Badwash Harbor the pirates would descend upon the fair and massacre her and everyone else. To the north was Gladys' hideout—the lion's den, effectively suicide even if she hadn't tried it yet. Finally, if she packed up and left with Fay, she herself was infected, and would kill her only friend. Wherever they ran, she would bring this monster with her.

Then what did that leave? If every door lay sealed, what then? She was doomed, cursed to wander Badwash for the rest of her life. Perhaps for an eternity, not made up of many days, but _one_ day; the _same_ day, over and over, painful death after excruciating death, losing Fay again and again. There was no escape, no respite for her.

 _Miyu!_

A voice called from the depths of the forest. It was a pleasant, sing-songy voice. It searched for her, but didn't betray the slightest ounce of worry.

 _Miyuuuu!_

Young, and child-like. She instantly recognized the voice, though it hadn't graced her ears in a decade.

She looked up from the mound, searching the trees again. It didn't seem to come from one direction, but from many.

 _This way, silly…_

Her ears locked onto its source, and Miyu slid down the leaf-strewn hill after it. She tentatively stepped back into the trees again, aware of every shadow and movement.

 _Don't be afraid. You're safe. Can we play some more?_

There. To the north. A white flash of movement. Miyu tried to focus her cloudy vision on it, but only made out a glowing splotch.

 _Betcha can't catch me, slowpoke!_

The splotch disappeared behind a tree, and Miyu set off after it. She was tired from her previous run, but something about the rising mists and the cool morning breeze proved refreshing. Though in all likeliness it was the phantom's presence that re-energized her.

She passed the tree the figure had been hiding at, but found no one there. Slightly worried, she searched between the gnarled trunks.

Miyu heard a cute giggle and turned to its source. She caught a glimpse of a long, cream-colored tail darting behind another tree. She took off after it, this time running faster. By now her fears of prowling monsters had vanished. She was almost enjoying the chase, like old times.

She rounded a crooked trunk and spotted the other feline's back, darting in and out between the trees.

Their chase took them steadily uphill, until Miyu found herself lifting herself up by thin trees and climbing over rocks. The air became especially dense in the early morning mists, until it was hard for Miyu to see more than a few yards in front of her. Still Miyu pressed on, goaded by the playful taunting of her sister's voice.

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

Eventually she broke free of the clouds, climbing onto a flat plateau. The hillside seemed to stretch on to her left and right farther than she could see, and after a ways of relatively flat terrain it began rising back up again, only to disappear into another wall of trees and clouds. She scanned the rocky plateau until she found her sister's small form, dressed in a lime green dress which billowed in the wind. She crossed the expanse in between them, shortly arriving at her side.

Lily was different from how Miyu saw her in her dreams—or rather, she _herself_ was different. She stood at twice her height now, rather than being just as young and short in her memories. It reminded her just how much time had passed since last seeing her.

In contrast to their earlier game in the forest, Lily acted much more reserved. She stood ramrod straight on the precipice, paws clasped behind her back. She stared down into the clouds below, and the mystery they contained. Her expression serious, and determined.

Miyu didn't know what to say, so she remained silent until her sister chose to speak. It felt odd, letting such a little girl have so much control over her.

"You're hurting, aren't you?" Lily asked, not removing her eyes from the void below.

"Yes… a good deal."

"You feel trapped, don't you? With nowhere to run."

"Yes, Lily."

The younger feline turned and clasped Miyu's paws in her own. She looked up at her sister, deathly serious.

"Then keep following me."

Follow… Lily? "Where? Where are you?"

Lily stared up at Miyu with pleading eyes. "I know you're hurting so much, and you feel so weak. You can't escape those scary places. You're scared about hurting your best friend, too. But you can run away from all that if you follow me."

Miyu's eyes wandered away from Lily, staring over the side of the precipice. The drop-off yawned before her, extending a hundred feet below before it disappeared into fog. Suddenly, the cliff took on a new meaning for Miyu.

Death… but also release.

If only that were true.

"Lily, no matter what I do I can't escape. I'll just wake up back where I started. Nothing will change."

Lily stood on tiptoes to place her paw on the bump in Miyu's shirt. " _This_ … is what's keeping you trapped here."

Curious and entranced, Miyu lifted the necklace from her shirt, studying the pendant dangling from it.

"It's just a chain, Miyu. It only brings scary things. It's not worth it. Let go of it."

Cautiously, Miyu lifted the necklace from around her neck and held it out in front of her. It felt strange taking it off, like letting go of a security blanket, or bicycling without training wheels, or flying with her shields off. It felt frightening… and exciting. She held her arm out, letting it dangle over the stone ground.

"Let go, and it'll all disappear. You won't see this smelly swamp again. Nothing can ever hurt you, and you can't hurt anyone. But best of all..."

Lily grabbed onto the hem of Miyu's shirt, staring up at her.

"...You'll see me."

The chord of the necklace slipped between Miyu's fingers, and it clacked against the ground. She had made her choice. It was the only way, but then again most puzzles and mazes only had one solution, no matter how convoluted. She gazed into the abyss and the hundred feet between her and the tops of the low-hanging clouds. Beyond them… who could say. It was a mystery what they hid. Hopefully, peace, and her sister. But there was only one way to find out.

Closing her eyes, Miyu caused the intimidating sight to vanish. It would be easier to act that way, without fear freezing her. It was the same as falling into a pool of water, or dropping onto her bed after a long day. Effortless… She spread her arms and balanced on the edge, swaying back and forth.

Thumps. Boots scraping against rocks and gravel reached her ears. She opened her eyes in time to see Fay approach from her right, where Lily had been standing. She shoved Miyu away from the ledge, demanding, "What do you think you're doing?!"

Miyu nearly jumped out of her skin, then guiltily floundered for a response. But a powerful, blunt force snapped her head back, and she fell onto the ground. Surprised, she rubbed at her stinging cheek and sore jaw.

Fay had struck her. It wasn't a bitchy slap, nor a mushy, fumbling punch. It was a full, five-fingered blow. Upon impact it knocked all the ghosts and confusion and fantasy worlds from Miyu's mind. It was hard and physical, rudely waking her back to reality.

"What's gotten into you? What are you doing here? Do you really think you can just _reset_ all this by killing yourself? Using that necklace… wait, where is that thing?"

Fay placed her hands on her hips, towering above Miyu's sprawling form. She scrutinized Miyu's person for the necklace, then the clifftop, until the reflected light from the shell pendent caught her eye.

"Well _there_ it is. You weren't even wearing it. Don't you have to wear it to be able… to..."

As Fay made the horrific connection in her head, Miyu drew away from her in shame, hiding her face.

"Miyu you stupid… idiot!"

The next thing the lynx felt was Fay tackling her in a tight hug. She couldn't return the gesture; she was still recovering from the whiplash of having a dream shattered.

Fay closed her arms around her, burying her muzzle in her neck. Miyu could feel her cold nose through her fur.

"I don't understand what's going on Miyu, and I don't know if I ever will. A lot of confusing things happened today, and you seem changed—older, even though it's only been a few hours since they separated us. You seem _gone._ And," she sniffed, "I know you have good reasons for this, and it all might make sense, eventually, but I think you need to talk to me. I'll always follow you, Miyu. I'll be there to listen when you have no one else. And when you feel like you have to do something on your own to protect me…" She lifted her head and looked into Miyu's vacant eyes. "...Don't. You're not alone. So please… confide in me. Don't hold back."

After a few seconds of silence, Miyu answered, "Okay, Fay. Just… don't ask too many questions."

Fay squeezed her torso. "Got it."

Sighing, Miyu continued. "Alright. I'm at the end of my rope, Fay. Until a few seconds ago I felt like I was losing my mind. I thought I might hurt you, but I think that's passed. I've… been through a lot, during the past four days. Each time I threw myself at the mission, determined to find Mamba, but I uncovered something so much larger that threatens all of Badwash, and possibly even Bayoon. It's so much bigger than me, and I'm so small I feel like I can't make a difference… but I'm the only one who can because of this stupid necklace. I try and I try, but everytime I make a little progress I reach another dead end of this maze, and I lose myself… and you."

For the first time since Fay hugged her, Miyu looked her in the face. "You know what I said to Vetna? About losing you? That was all a lie. Each time you die, it doesn't minimize the pain I feel. It makes it _worse_. It adds up. I haven't gotten used to it—I never will! Each time it kills me a little more inside, and I can never unsee those horrors. But I have to press on… Gladys is after me, and countless lives are at stake. I have to save them. I—"

Fay placed a finger over Miyu's lips. "Whoa, slow down. I think we've found your problem."

"There's just one?"

Fay giggled. "Well, there's one big one that's making things harder for right _now_. You have to beat these one at a time, you know. Your immediate problem is that you're knocking yourself out, trying to do too many things and save too many people. Has your mind rested at all over those past few days?"

Miyu paused to do the math in her head. "I think I haven't slept in over 24 hours. I mean, I'm never alive for more than eight, but I think it adds up. I don't know if my body needs the rest…"

"Well your mind sure as hell does," Fay concluded. "Honestly, it was only a matter of time before you broke down like that."

"But my eyes!" Miyu exclaimed.

Fay held open Miyu's eyelids with her fingers, studying her irises. "Looks like they're back to normal. As blue as the ocean." Letting Miyu's eyelids snap back into place, she continued, "Yep, what you need is some rest."

"I don't feel sleepy."

"Then you need to put your _mind_ at rest. Badwash must be a great spot for it. The marshlands are really scenic. We could take a boat ride—"

"Whoa-no, pirates are camped out there, like the ones that kidnapped you."

"Oh. Well then, we could have a picnic in the for—"

Miyu shook her head. "Uh-uh. Zombies."

"Weeee cooould... spend some time at the fair in town—"

"Been there, done that," Miyu cut her off. "Pirates and zombies… _and_ cultists."

"How about this mountain, then?" Fay asked.

"Mountain?" Miyu looked up, noticing that the clouds had mostly cleared from the rest of the hill she was climbing. Sure enough, it was a mountain—Mount Obukula. Its peak poked into the massive pillar of clouds that stretched all the way between Bayoon and its parent satellite, Aquas. The low hanging clouds had obscured the upper half when she first climbed it. But then her focus had been elsewhere.

"Yeah, have you ever been here?"

"No, but I've heard about it from some locales."

"Well, does it have anything we could do for fun? Besides hiking, that is. I'm sure you're just as tired as I am after that chase."

"Gladys' hideout is supposedly on the other side. We could infiltrate that."

Fay rolled her eyes. "Be serious!"

"I was! I haven't tried going there yet. I bet I could sneak up on her, take her necklace, and—"

"Would you forget about fighting pirates and making progress!" Fay shook Miyu. "This is about you and you alone. Now, think about something _re-lax-ing!_ "

Miyu thought for a moment, remembering the words of the Darling family that took them in. "Um, there's like a radio station at the top of the mountain, and some disc jockey who's rather popular. And somewhere there are salt springs."

"That's it!" Fay snapped her fingers. "Perfect for relaxation! I bet you haven't had a good bath in weeks. Especially not a natural one out in nature like this. Why, back in my Zoness estate we had these _heavenly_ hot tubs that were great for melting your woes in..."

Miyu could have mentioned her bath at the Darlings, but it was lonely, dark, and scary—not at all relaxing—so she didn't bring it up. "Okay, sure, that sounds nice. But… where are these salt springs?"

Fay scratched her chin. "Hmm, I was hoping you would know. But I bet if we followed this trail we would eventually run into them."

"There's a trail?"

"Yeah, you followed it up here. It eventually got to a point where I didn't need to track you via wrist comm anymore, so I just followed the path like you. Come on, let's go!"

Miyu accepted Fay's hand up, and they both set off along the mountain trail.


	11. The Warmest Color

_A/N_ _: This is my first time writing something like this, so tell me how it goes. And once again I composed a soundtrack for this chapter, this time stealing from_ Glass Animals' _"Gooey". You can find a link to it on my profile._

 **Chapter 11: The Warmest Color**

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"Darling?"

The vixen turned away from the viewport, having lost herself in thought while staring out. Looking at the dark blue sky and walls of clouds, she could almost picture herself at home on Corneria. But the voice sharply called her back to the unfortunate reality.

Standing in her room's doorway was Dr. Andross Bowman, director and lead researcher of the unnamed, unapproved Bayoon project. He was her superior, captor, and ever-perseverant suitor. The simian was tall and rugged-looking: a scientist who dirtied his hands in raw experiments rather than the saint-like, sterile typecast. Graying beard well-trimmed, hair conversely disheveled, and spectacles precariously perched atop his flat, primate nose. Altogether an enigmatic man—one who had charmed her like so many others upon introduction—yet his enigma masked ruthlessness and amorality.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Andross sighed as he strolled in. "I wanted to copy down as many notes as I could remember. Like dreams that fade upon waking, the practice of journaling helps one recollect them. In my last life we collected many samples from the town after the invasion. We were so busy gathering that we left little time to analyze. Much of what we found was lost, but I intend to rectify that this life. You know, this spell is proving just as much of a nuisance as it is an asset."

The vixen's eyes crept to the tribal necklace Andross wore around his neck: black string with a polished nacre pendant.

"But once we eliminate the lynx our project will go forward without setback, and the negative side of this two-faced coin will vanish."

Andross stopped at a table in the center of the cabin, laden with silver serving trays that smelled like seafood—more luxurious than almost anyone else aboard the research station was allotted. While Andross only ate out of necessity during experiments, he pulled out all the stops while dining the vixen. He removed one of the chairs from the table, offering her the seat.

She couldn't refuse. The vulpine slunk over and let her host seat her. Andross sat across from her, already removing one of the tray lids to start serving them both. While he dished the steaming shellfish and salmon onto their plates, the vixen merely sat and watched, not having spoken a word since he entered. Her expression a wall of stoicism and melancholy. She couldn't care less about the expensive meal, and loathed the man serving it.

Andross looked up from slicing the fish. "What's bothering you this time, Vixy?"

Once again her mind was elsewhere. She saw home-cooked meals arrayed on a dining room table, her husband and young son gratefully digging into them.

The scientist continued working the fork and knife. "You know you don't nearly shout at me as much as you did when I first brought you here against your will."

He sat Vixy's plate before her. Careful not to show eagerness to eat while at the same time satisfying her yearning stomach, she lifted her fork and started in. She kept her head down and spoke not a word.

"You know I prefer all those shouted obscenities and abuse to this cold shoulder tactic," Andross informed her. "That's what I saw in you to begin with—that spirit. It's why I fell for you and brought you here. But now you measure magnetosomes like a cowed slave who's given up on herself. I prefer you smashed a few of those test tubes over my head rather than cry into them. You don't have to be so dour."

Vixy looked up from her food, glowering at him.

"Monster."

Andross sighed. "Is this about our test subjects again? Their suffering is for a good cause. After I conduct the necessary experiments I can simply reset time, and all their memories will be erased, their pain but a fleeting shadow they will soon forget."

"Monster."

The primate's fork scraped against his plate, striking a violin note like nails upon chalkboard. "You know Gladys called me the same thing last life. You wouldn't want to take the same side as that _creature,_ would you?"

Vixy scooped up a mouthful of vegetables. "She's right. She would throw her prisoners in the brig, or maybe execute them. You parade them around on a leash, keep them separated from their family, all while having the audacity to make love to them. Death is preferable to this."

"Now now," Andross clucked, "Neither of us want that. _I_ need you to finish these experiments, and _you_ still hold onto the chance that you may see James and your son again. While that remains a possibility, you will never give up. But beyond my need for bright scientists… don't you see that I love you?"

"Is a creature like you even capable of loving?"

"Of course, my dear. This love defines me as a person. Without it, I really would be a monster, or some dumb animal. Is this not proof of my soul?"

"All you care about is destruction. How powerful a weapon you can make, how high a death count you can rack up."

"Ah! On the contrary, I care about _order._ I care about _control._ And these experiments will bring about a new order in the Lylat."

"With you as its dictator?"

"With myself and whoever I deem fit to rule."

"Oh? And what if no one meets your standards?"

Andross paused before responding, staring off at the sky outside rather than Vixy.

"Then I alone."

"Monster."

Andross opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't come up with anything. He let his jaw close, and went back to poking around his plate.

It was true, the saying that floated around the research station. Andross only bowed to two women: Gladys, when she so commanded, and Vixy, his unwilling mistress. Even in this powerless state, Vixy got a kick out of torturing Andross. He gave her this power over his heart, and, having nothing else, she made sure to abuse it.

Having finished his meal, Andross set his napkin on his plate and pushed his chair from the table. He stood up.

"Thank you for dining with me. The conversation could have been better, but it proved most stimulating."

"I hope you choke on a fish bone."

He smiled devilishly, raising a finger. "If I do, the universe will reset to a time where I _didn't."_

Vixy rose from her place as well. "Oh I don't mean for you to die. I want it to stick halfway down your throat, lodge in your esophagus, and poke a hole into your neck. I want you to choke for as long as possible, until the paramedics show up to cut a doorway into your throat and rip the bone out. Then you will really know what it is like to choke on your own ambition and egotism."

" _Very_ poetic. You know, sometimes I think your wrath is just your way of… making love." Andross gestured to her outfit. "You look ravishing in that dress, by the way. Makes it impossible for me to interpret whatever you do as anything other than an act of romance. Your pricking needles are arrows of the god of love. Your fiery, glaring eyes betray the passion burning within. But you really should have bathed before wearing that dress. Your beautiful appearance wore off after the stench of the labs set in."

"How about that," Vixy sneered. "The same way I met you."

Andross lightly clapped his hands. "Oh bravo. Now off you go—shower."

"But if I—"

"The dye is unnecessary, dear. You're safer here than Corneria. Besides, I prefer your natural look."

Vixy waited for Andross to bow and exit before she closed the door. She locked it to ensure the utmost privacy, even if other higher-ups could override the lock at will.

She entered her bedroom and the adjoining bathroom, locking that door as well after making sure she had a clean pair of laboratory clothes. She turned the shower faucet on, balancing the hot and cold water just right. While she waited for the water to heat up she undressed and lay her clothes in a pile by the clean set.

When steam seeped out of the shower compartment, she parted the curtain and slipped in. The water was too hot, and she winced, correcting the temperature as she pressed herself against the wall to avoid the burning cone. When the water reached a satisfying level of warmth, she stood in the liquid spotlight, entertaining an audience of memories. She tilted her head down and let the water mat her hair, dousing the rest of her. The alien feel of the shower taunted her, made her uncomfortable. She crossed her arms and huddled in the warmth, trying to put on a good face for the apparitions of James and Fox.

As the water poured over her, she stared down at the drain in the bottom of the stainless-steel compartment. After running off her fur, the water became stained orange and auburn, revealing her fur's cooler, darker tone. The dye left streaks in the water puddling on the floor, then seeped into the drain between her feet.

Emitting a fragmented sigh, she set to work washing the rest of the dye out, along with the peculiar stench left over from the laboratories. What was the use? In a couple hours she would be back there anyway.

When she was finished she wheeled both the hot and cold faucets off. She reached through the curtain to grab a towel, drying her fur and hair. Once done, she wrapped it around her torso and stepped from the compartment.

Condensation had formed on the mirror, clouding her reflection. She cleared it with several wipes from her paw. She stepped back to get a full view of herself, trying to see what Andross had seen earlier.

A blue-furred fox stared back at Vixy, wrapped in a towel.

It felt like looking at a stranger, with how often she kept her fur dyed. Only Andross, some fellow scientists, and James had seen her true pelt. Not even Fox had. It'd been awhile since her last permanent dye, which lasted upwards of five months. Being isolated in the Bayoon research station meant she had to settle for quick dyes, which required more frequent applications. There were risks of walking around in her natural fur, and she might turn the pirates' eyes, but there was minimal chance word would leak back to Corneria.

She leaned over the sink, supporting herself with strong arms as she brought her face closer to the mirror. As much as she hated to admit, Andross was right. Her face showed nothing but resignation and despair. Why had she given up? Why had she quit fighting?

Growling at herself, Vixy looked around the counter top for weapons. A variety of sharp objects presented themselves to her, and while they would be useless against the immortal Andross, she could still use them against his henchmen.

She wasn't helpless. She was weak and outnumbered, but she could make up for that with resourcefulness.

Vixy returned to glaring at her reflection, her aqua-colored irises burning with determination.

Andross and Gladys must be stopped. For the sake of Bayoon. For the sake of the Lylat System.

So she could see her family again.

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The girls didn't have to search long. The mountain path lead them to a wooded grove on the western slope, shrouded in its own personal cloud of mist. Even from that distance to the springs they could hear the white noise of rushing, bubbling water.

Miyu's ears drooped. "Why's it always have to be water?"

"Can you not be so stereotypical?" Fay responded.

Miyu sighed. Ask the same question, get the same answer. Apparently Fay reused jokes after the resets. Were they already falling in a rut?

"Trust me, you'll love it," the spaniel followed up. "They're so much better than baths—even spas. Helps that they're totally natural."

On their approach to the springs Miyu felt a wave of excitement energize her. It quickened her pulse and made her cheeks burn beneath her fur. Suddenly the prospect of bathing became that much more appealing. As long as…

She touched Fay's arm. "Hey, you're not going to leave me alone, are you?"

"No, of course not! Someone has to help you wind down."

Miyu exhaled an excited, shivering breath—hoping Fay wouldn't notice.

"Then let's find a spot farther back, could we? Just in case some Bayoons stop by."

"Agreed. We could use some privacy. I'd hate to have the local yokels leering at us."

They forged into the trees, following the sound of the water and the shape-shifting mist. Several of the pools and tributaries they passed up, though each one seemed more beautiful than the last, and twice as tempting. Once they placed a comfortable distance between themselves and the path they decided on a pool that lay just ahead.

"You go on ahead, Miyu. I want to set something up."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just a little thing. You say there's a radio station at the top of the mountain?"

"Yeah..."

"I bet we get excellent signal strength here. Be with you in a moment."

Reluctantly, Miyu went on alone, until she realized it was an opportunity to undress in private. She stopped in some bushes halfway between Fay and the pool. She stripped off her jacket and outer clothes, leaving her sports undergarments. She paused, looking back over her shoulder at Fay. How much would she think was _too_ much? At what point was she being too forward?

Miyu's desire won out. Clumsily she unfastened her bra and removed her thong, letting them drop to the ground. Thinking better of it, she hid them beneath her clothes so Fay wouldn't see. Standing naked in the bushes she hunkered over a bit. Fay was still fiddling with her wrist comm, which emitted constant spurts of static.

A cool breeze picked up, finally motivating the lynx to move on. She carefully navigated the moss-covered ground until she emerged from the underbrush. Before her lay the mineral spring they had chosen, in all its seductive splendor. It was pear-shaped, with a trickling waterfall pouring into the narrow side, and a shallow bank rising to meet the surface of the other. The water was the same hue she'd seen on island-themed calendars or postcards of Zoness—if not prettier. It was a livelier hue than even the azure disk of Aquas floating overhead: a blend of electric blue and lime green, colors of marker she coveted as a child. A white film enclosed the edges of the spring, almost like soap suds. They built soft crystalline formations on the sides of the shore, with some near the waterfall towering out of the pool.

The pleasant sounds of the fall and jets of bubbles laughed in her ears. The clouds of warm steam caressed her exposed fur. The brilliant aquamarine water dazzled her eyes, so saturated she could taste it with her irises.

Unable to stand its foreplay any longer Miyu gave into the allures of the pool. She stepped down the bank until she set her first foot in the water, and arcs of pleasure shot up her leg. She placed her other foot in and descended into the spring, crushing some of the soft crystal formations underfoot. By the time the water reached the top of her stomach she was halfway across, standing in the deepest portion. When she reached the other side she turned around and seated herself on the spring bed. The floor was mostly hard, flat stones, yet cushioned by the shifting minerals covering it. She tilted her head back against the moss-covered bank, spread her arms against the shore, and closed her eyes.

She melted into Bayoon, becoming part of the satellite.

It was difficult remembering a prior occasion when she felt so much bliss. Fay was right; none of her baths even approached this current sensation. It was heavenly—a taste of paradise. Exploring the salt springs felt like entering an entirely new world, divorced of the worries of Badwash. The swamp had always been cold, wet, and miserable, holding dangers like leeches and serpents. Here the water coaxed their memory from her skin, like venom from a wound. In Badwash the trees hid shadows and monsters; here they only protected, sheltering her in solitude and privacy.

The sound of approaching music and rustling leaves caused Miyu to reopen her eyes. Standing above the opposite side of the pool, haloed by the sun setting behind Bayoon, was Fay. In the midday sunset the amber mist cast a golden, creamy glow upon her normally blank fur. Their previous encounter in the swamp had been under cover of the Aquan twilight, which did Fay's body no such justice as this.

She hesitated upon the bank, letting Miyu soak up her image. She couldn't help but admire her, indulging the flame that smoldered within. She was a year Miyu's junior, and smaller in size. Her petite figure shrank in comparison to Miyu's toned frame. To the lynx's delight she wore only her lace panties—the cute ones she teased her about earlier. Her breasts were bare, though concealed by her arms. If only she'd give Miyu a glimpse—

At that moment she became aware that Fay was in turn staring at _her_. Fay was conscious of her ogling! God, how long had she been drooling? She must've made it too obvious.

Then Miyu realized that her own breasts were exposed above the surface, and her leering was far from one-sided. Fay looked up from Miyu's chest to met her eyes, and they both shared a frightened stare.

While Miyu discreetly sank into the water, Fay burst out giggling and uncrossed her arms, baring all. In one paw she held her wrist comm, which she set on the ledge above the pool. It emitted a playful, sometimes romantic jazz ballad. Miyu didn't like the thought of hearing the radio, but at the same time she had to admit the song was pretty, and combated any of their awkward silences. As a bonus it sounded like an instrumental piece, with no vocals to intrude upon their relaxation. The last song she remembered had made heavy use of spoken-word, and was quite foreboding…

Fay sat on the bank and slid down the incline, landing feet-first in the water. Miyu secretly loved how her breasts bounced from the motion, revealing how doughy they were. They were small—like the rest of Fay—but shapely and befitting of her size. She gave Miyu an even better view when she arched her back and stretched, prominently displaying her chest. She slowly inhaled and closed her eyes, as if signaling for Miyu to look at her without fear of being caught.

 _That's it,_ Miyu thought. There was no more running from what she felt. Maybe she had always known, but it took this moment to make her feelings impossible to ignore. That burning passion she felt in her abdomen; that yearning desire to hold and be close to Fay stirred in her chest.

"Ohhhh," Fay moaned in pleasure. "Gosh this is amazing. It even beats my family's hot tubs."

Succumbing to the designs of the pool like Miyu had, Fay sunk down into its steamy depths, seating herself across from Miyu. Her chest was hidden from view, but Miyu could still see her delicate, rounded shoulders. She lay there with her eyes closed, losing herself in the hot bath like Miyu had.

Why was she afraid to admit these feelings? Love between same-sex Lylatians had always been a taboo subject on Katina, but Cornerian culture championed that kind of love. If anyone, Fay would be the most accepting of her. But… she was also the one person Miyu cared about now. The person who meant the most to her. In fact, Fay was her _only_ friend. If Fay turned her down for whatever reason, she would be crushed. It would throw a wrench into their friendship. The fear of rejection held her back, paralyzing her.

Miyu told herself she couldn't be the one to make the first move and be stuck with the blame. Like a cold war of love, she couldn't be the instigator. In fact, it was how Miyu acted in most social situations. Never appear too forward. Always leave the initiation to her opponent, then seize the opportunity they create. _Oh if only I was as brash with romance as I was with combat…_

Sure enough, the wait began to pay off. Fay swam across the pool to the shallow bank. She lay propped up on her side, patting the water in front of her.

"Come on, it's time for your massage."

Miyu gulped, but knew better than to back down now. She pushed off the bank and waded over to Fay, standing in the waist deep water. She gave the spaniel a curious look, awaiting further instructions.

Fay gestured at the soft bed of sand and water. "Well, lie down!"

Obeying her demands, Miyu crawled up from the pool and lay stomach-down in the shallows. The water was just high enough to flood the small of her back and her lower legs, but not much else. She was able to cushion her face against the mossy bank.

Fay looked down at her and let out a quiet little "eep!"

At first Miyu was confused, but then she remembered her lack of undergarments, and her exposed cheeks which rose above the water.

"What's the matter Fay?" she asked, putting up a cool front and swishing her tail. "You said one of the benefits of mineral springs was being 'all natural'."

Fay laughed with a dash of nervousness. "Oh, I just didn't know you were naked—your ass surprised me... but I'd prefer you to a dick pic, though."

Sitting beside Miyu's prostrate form, Fay set to work earnestly massaging the stress from the lynx's body. She started with the back of her neck and worked her way down to Miyu's shoulders, kneading Miyu's fur and the flesh beneath. It felt like a sculptor working on her back; smoothing her skin, molding her muscles, and arranging her spine. Each new movement released a burst of heat and tension from Miyu's body, until it felt like she was emitting just as much warmth as the spring.

 _Is Fay even attracted to girls?_ Miyu absently asked herself. She seemed to fawn over men most of all during their missions, but that was because they predominantly encountered men. Bear Grylls was her most recent infatuation… but Fay seemed to be attracted to his resourcefulness and knowledge more than his physique and appearance. But she had to admit Fay's chances of being attracted to other girls were depressingly slim, given the statistics. Perhaps she just needed someone to convince her. She had to probe.

As Fay scooped water onto her back and massaged it in, Miyu asked, "So, you ever get any dick picks?"

"Huh?" Miyu had to admit an awkward amount of time elapsed since Fay made the comparison. "Oh. Uh, yeah. One or two. Well… just one."

Miyu closed her eyes as Fay worked her over, resting her head on the cheek that faced away from the spaniel. "Who was he?"

"Just a boyfriend from flight academy, before I left to become a merc. He was the farthest I ever went with."

 _Oh. Well, maybe she was bi…_

"And how far was that, exactly?"

"Dick pics," Fay stated matter-of-factly.

Miyu laughed. "Took one look at it and freaked, am I right?"

"No, I wasn't scared of it. I mean… well, it's ugly and all. It was just something really personal of his... and showing it to me was rather forced… it was just too fast for me. I had only just met him that semester."

At least she never had a full relationship with a boy. _God, I'm so disgusting_ — _hoping my friend had a fruitless love life so I can get with her…_

By that point Fay had reached the small of Miyu's back and dangerously approached her flicking tail. However, to her disappointment, Fay timidly skipped over her rear and set to work on her legs instead.

Miyu lifted her head. "Hey, don't I get the full treatment?"

"Hmm?"

Miyu gestured with her head. "You're forgetting something big."

"Oh… I wasn't sure if you'd be comfortable with that. But-but I'm fine with it, if you are."

"Yes, that would be nice." Miyu lay her head back down, closing her eyes and smiling giddily to herself.

Fay scooped up two handfuls of water and let them pour onto the twin mounds of Miyu's seat, then lay her hands on them. At first her touch was feathery, as if teasing Miyu's cheeks while she spread water over them. Then she began kneading the malleable peaks, pressing them towards Miyu's back, then down towards her legs. Up and down she worked, simulating the movement of ocean waves. Miyu shivered with excitement; it was the most intimate either of the two girls had gotten with each other. She wondered if Fay could see her womanhood, or—she felt dirty for even considering it—her other scandalous parts while spreading her cheeks.

She decided to help Fay out.

Acting as if unconscious of her actions, she lifted her tail out of the way, and shifted—just enough to open her legs a bit and widen the gap. It seemed to work—Fay slowed down, coming to grips with the sight Miyu presented. After a few more seconds though, she shifted to Miyu's thighs and legs, unabated. Whatever progress Miyu made, it felt like Fay rejected it.

Miyu felt discouraged. Perhaps this was an early warning. A sign that Fay recognized her advances and did _not_ appreciate them…

But why not risk it? What did she have to lose? If Fay turned her down, she could just restart and try again. Save Fay from the pirates, bring her to the spring, and relive this moment again and again. Even if she was rejected, Miyu could relive those same golden moments again and again. In fact, maybe she could retry their time together until she found the perfect way to _make_ Fay accept her. Forget about the Aquans who hated her and their employer who wanted some stupid artifacts; if it took a thousand deaths, she would make love to Fay.

Miyu rose to her haunches, crouching in the shallow bank.

"Fay, would you give me a wash next? In the waterfall?"

The spaniel looked a bit worried, but her wagging tail revealed more. "Yeah, sure. I've been eying that waterfall ever since I got in."

Miyu took Fay's paw and lead her over to the fall. Once she was close enough, she let go and turned to face Fay, retreating until her back pressed against the rock cliff beneath the ledge. The water struck a series of rock steps on the way down, causing it to bounce off and spray in multiple directions, creating a soft shower. She presented herself to Fay, spreading her arms and letting the water cascade down her front.

Her heartbeat picked up, drumming dangerously fast in anticipation.

Fay stopped with the look of a deer lost in the headlights. Miyu could see her pupils dilate as her eyes roved over Miyu's exposed body, and she caught her swallowing. Still, the spaniel was brave, and she approached Miyu. She stood less than an arm's length away. For lack of a washcloth or even shampoo, Fay used her wet paws to comb through Miyu's hair and head fur. She giggled when she stroked her ears, fondling the gold earring in one of them.

But just when she was growing comfortable, Miyu daringly pressed on. She reached up and took Fay's paws in her own, letting them fall to hang at thigh-level. She drew an inch closer to Fay.

"Fay… what do you think of me?"

"Huh? Wha-what do I _think_ of you? How do you mean?"

"It's an open question—don't get so technical about it. First thing that comes to your mind; what do you think of me?"

Fay floundered, eyes darting left, right, and at Miyu. "Um, well, you're totally my coolest friend! I have so much fun on the adventures we go on, even if they don't always end well..."

Miyu let go of Fay's paws and began tracing the fur up her thin arms. "Friends?" she breathed in a whisper.

"The best!" Fay reaffirmed. "You're the closest I've been to anyone outside my aunt and uncle. I never had any real siblings, and there was always this social gap between myself and the rest of my classmates, so… yes, you're the closest friend I have. It's only been a couple years, but we've been through a lot together. You've always been there for me. Especially… especially on Aquas. You're so strong, but I don't think you always know it."

Miyu finished tracing up Fay's arms and moved on to her shoulders and neck. "Strong? ...Tell me what I look like."

Fay licked her lips and brushed over Miyu's body with her eyes again. "Well, yeah, you're strong. You're the strongest woman I know—except for maybe my aunt. But you're… you're like me. You're young, and the strength you have is a product of you trying; not the weathering of old age. You look pretty and like a girl, but at the same time, you're strong."

"How do you know?" Miyu asked. She placed her fingers on Fay's eyelids and guided them closed. "What do I _feel_ like?"

With her eyes closed, Fay raised her shaking hands and placed them on Miyu's well-toned abdomen. She felt how firm her muscles were, and traced the lines between her abs. "When I touched you earlier, you were rough, and firm. There was tension and worry in you." Her own hands crept upward as she spoke, unconsciously searching. "But after I touched you, after I tended to you, you became—" Her hands found the bottom of Miyu's supple breasts. She opened her eyes, surprised to discover herself cupping them.

"Soft."

She looked up with frightened eyes, only to see Miyu's closed and rushing towards her own. Miyu lay her paws on the base of Fay's back and pulled herself closer. Their bodies and lips met, and the walls separating their individual worlds crumbled. The lynx caught her partner in a full-bodied embrace, pressing her hips and chest against Fay's own. Lightning jumped between their bodies, igniting the embers they carried into burning suns. The light was so bright it obscured all of the spring, bathing everything except the two united girls in white. Everything was completed in that momentary kiss—that common warmth they shared between their yearning bodies.

Yet as spontaneously as it began, the moment ended. Fay pulled away, fleeing the embrace. She broke free of Miyu's arms with such force that she lost her balance and fell backward. She created a tremendous splash in the pool, then back-paddled and crept up onto the shallow bank. She faced Miyu from where she sat, breathing excitedly, her blushing chest heaving.

"Miyu? Did you just..."

" _We_ did," Miyu corrected. She slunk through the water toward Fay, accentuating her walk by exaggerating the movement of her hips. How clumsy and awful she felt at this, but at the same time the cadre came instinctually.

"I'm—I'm so sorry! I don't know what got into me," Fay whimpered. "I totally went too far! I shouldn't have come onto you like that. First I was massaging you, then washing you, then feeling you… I let it go too far!"

She stopped directly over Fay's sprawled form, towering above her. Water dripped in rivulets down her fur. She was close enough that drops landed on Fay's legs.

Miyu internally toasted, _To this life._

The words spilled from her mouth. "Fay, I've never told you this, but I think you're beautiful. I think you're cute, and adorable, and playful. You're so innocent and untouched—more so than you might think, even now. There's something about you that makes me want to protect you. I… I want to save you over and over again, in different scenarios. I want to rescue you from pirates and monsters and scumbags, and I want to hold you. I want to wrap you in my arms and fall asleep with you at night. But it's _more_ than that. I want to kiss you. I..."

She placed a paw on her flower, bared for Fay to see.

"I want to love you. I want to caress your neck and shoulders and back, and..."

She felt her hand dancing across herself, stoking the uncontrollable fire that ached within.

"I want to smother your body in kisses. I want to bury my face in your breasts. I-I want to touch you. I want to excite you, and make you purr sweet sighs."

Miyu stroked herself more intensely, until she practically caught fire. Unable to control herself, she sat down atop Fay's leg, shivering when her lips pressed against her soft thigh.

"Fay… I need this. I need _you_."

Fay had been staring at her like a gaping fish leading up to the moment. "But we can't! This… this is wrong!"

"Are you scared?"

"Well, no!" A tear slipped from Fay's eye. She sniffed, keeping her head angled down. "Yes..." Then when Miyu began to pull away in shame, she grabbed her wrists. "B-but I want this too!" she burst out.

Miyu halted, waiting anxiously on Fay's every word. This was it.

"I just… I don't have the courage or the forwardness _you_ do. I don't know what to do or how to act."

Miyu breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey, to be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing either. All I know is," she placed a hand over Fay's thigh, upon which she sat. "I want you."

Fay stared at the mound of Miyu's abdomen pressed against her. She kept her leg completely still, as of trying not to frighten off a curious bird. Sucking in a breath she looked up at Miyu. She fixed her with a deathly intent look.

"Me too."

Miyu cocked her head. "You want yourself?"

Fay flung a handful of water up at her. "No! I want _you,_ you stupid lynx!"

Miyu beamed down at her, inwardly exclaiming, _Woo, first try!_

"And I can't know what you're going through," Fay momentarily added, "but I can imagine it. I can _see_ its effects on you. No one has a right to be all pent-up, tense, and mentally exhausted as you are—not when it's been a period of a few hours. It's clear something happened to you. I want to help you recover—in _any_ way I can. I want to make you forget. So," she clapped her paws on Miyu's hips, holding her in place, "whatever you want to do with me, do it. I'm yours. Take me!" She screwed her eyes shut, ready for Miyu to do her worst.

The lynx nervously laughed. "Um, forgive me, I've never been in this position before."

Fay peeked through one eye. "Literally?"

"Ha, I guess both ways. I don't know what to do, so you'll have to bear with me."

Fay looked nervous, but at the same time morbidly curious. She gently moved her thigh, rubbing it between Miyu's legs. To help her teammate along, she applied more downward pressure on the lynx's hips. She smiled victoriously as the feline's jaw hung open. "Does this help?"

"Oh yes." Miyu leaned forward, placing her paws on Fay's breasts for support. Taking matters into her own hands, she rubbed herself up and down Fay's leg, moaning as she felt her lips spread apart, bringing her core closer to the spaniel. Gyrating her hips forward and backward, she dragged her womanhood over more and more of the leg's real estate.

Fay was supportive, grabbing Miyu's rear and giving it a hearty squeeze. She complimented the lynx's motions, guiding her back and forth. "Feel good?"

"Yeah," Miyu breathed. "Wander more!"

She behaved as she was told, spreading the lynx's cheeks and exploring the vulnerable flesh within. Each new area she touched sent arcs of pleasure through Miyu's being. Soon, it became less about Fay's desire to please and more about her own curiosity and lust. She left one hand to approach Miyu's clit from behind, but took the other to approach from the front, feathering her lower abdomen on its path down. The sensation elicited a purr from Miyu, and she brought her oscillating hips higher up the spaniel's thigh so she could reach farther.

In a pincher move, both of Fay's roving fingers found Miyu. She tickled the exposed parts of her partner not rammed up against her leg, and the cat growled in pleasure. She halted her gyrating, pausing to give Fay the chance to explore further. She took the opportunity, letting her front hand caress Miyu's flower while the other hand went back to grasping her ass. Eventually she began sinking a finger into Miyu, and the feline gasped. She pulled back a bit, and Fay removed her hands.

"I'm sorry!" she hurriedly said, covering her mouth.

"No, I-I'm sorry. That surprised me was all. But… I don't want to end this prematurely."

"You're right; let's make this moment last!" Fay winked. "Whatever makes you happy."

Miyu dismounted Fay, kneeling with her legs on either side of her. "Do you know what really makes me happy?"

"Uh, what?"

"For you to be happy, you dumb dog!"

Fay rolled her eyes. "Wow, way to insult me in the middle of our—" She cut herself off. Miyu had slipped a pair of fingers into her panties and was teasingly snapping the elastic strap against her stomach.

"Oh, that's what you meant."

"Tell the truth; you like my constant insults."

"Okay," Fay sighed, shivering as Miyu played with her underwear. "I love them. Now what are you—"

Miyu had to get an unadulterated look at Fay. Grasping the garment's straps she slid the article down Fay's legs. The soaked thong turned inside out as it clung to Fay's abdominal mound, then peeled away when Miyu relentlessly forced it down. Finally, the pink petals of Fay's rose were allowed to blossom. Miyu froze, unabashedly staring at the precious sight. Her jaw slipped open. She must've looked like a creepy old man.

"Am I really that attractive?"

"You have no idea," Miyu whispered. Recovering from her momentary trance, she slid the article the rest of the way down Fay's pale legs until it was completely free. Rather than casting them onto the shore though, she tossed them into the spring, where they disappeared beneath the milky surface.

"Hey, I need to put those back on!" Fay whined, reaching in vain.

"Well they're mine now," Miyu taunted her. She leaned down over Fay, supporting herself on all fours so that their muzzles were dangerously close. "I don't want you _ever_ putting them back on if you want to stay in this team. Got it?"

Fay vigorously nodded.

"Good. Now then..." Without further warning, she let herself fall upon Fay, meshing their bodies together. Their breasts compressed against one another, and their lips met for the second time that day. Because of their damp fur Miyu was able to slide up and down Fay's frictionless body, enjoying every moment of the way she could maximize their contact.

Fay was panting now; she couldn't take any more of the foreplay and decided to give her all to Miyu. Taking the lynx's paw in her own, she guided it between her legs.

"Miyu..." she whimpered.

That was all she had to say. The lynx began feathering the outline of her lips, making sure the canine was well-coated before she entered. When she was confident enough that Fay's nectar had built up, she dipped her fingers inside. The spaniel flinched and yipped, but didn't stop Miyu. She breathed erratically, yet wrapped her arms around Miyu's torso, as if to keep herself from retreating more than her partner. The more the lynx twisted her fingers inside of Fay, the harder she gripped Miyu's back and shoulder blades, until she left imprints in her fur.

"Oh-oh y-yes, Miyu!" Fay's exclamations were interrupted by erotic sobs that racked her body. She pressed her abdomen up to meet Miyu, then wrapped her legs around her back as well. "More! Please!"

* * *

Black Mamba stopped in the forest, roughly ten yards away from the spring. The bushes placed enough cover between herself and the bathing girls so that she could remain unseen. As long as she could hear them splashing she could search in safety.

Cira didn't have to look long; she stumbled upon two piles of clothing and gear. Kneeling, she began rifling through the lynx's articles and packs.

 _If those incompetent pirates had done their job correctly I wouldn't even be here. But here I am, cleaning up the work they left unfinished._ At least she got to kill Miyu herself—her only consolation. Then why was she glad when she first heard the pirates would kill her? It couldn't be that she was relieved someone else had done her in. She wouldn't accept that.

She grasped something hard in the lynx's flight jacket. Withdrawing the item, she discovered the missing dagger. It was a beautiful piece, fashioned for some ancient ceremony. Mamba slipped it from its sheath, revealing a polished ivory blade—the same material the necklace pendants were made from. The handle was carved from bone, possibly whale or some other sea creature.

While useful, the blade was not her primary objective. Miyu's necklace was more important. She sheathed the kukri and concealed it in her bag, then returned to her search.

Cira reached the bottom of Miyu's clothing pile. A quick run through her undergarments confirmed the necklace wasn't there. She cursed beneath her breath. Miyu must still have it, even though she disrobed of everything else. But Cira couldn't imagine her keeping it on her person; not while she risked losing it in the water. She probably left it on the bank nearby where she could see it. That meant she would have to kill Miyu before she could put it back on. Unless…

On a whim, the pantheress rooted through Fay's belongings as well. Her fingers closed around a rope chord, and she lifted it from beneath her jacket. Dangling at the end of it: the hand-shaped pendent.

 _Well well well, look what I found._ She grinned, arraying the necklace over her own shoulders. She let out a shaky, relieved sigh. It was hard to believe such an item could render her invincible. But at the same time, the pendant looked old and magical enough to imbue such powers. And Andross had known exactly where to find the girls, along with the fruits of experiments he couldn't possibly have conducted yet.

Feeling more empowered than she had ever felt before, Cira drew her gun and silently approached the spring through the underbrush. All that was left was shooting fish in a barrel.

As she drew closer, however, a strange noise reached her ears. They twitched, and she slowed her approach. Those weren't the sounds of two girls having fun in a mineral spring.

They were impassioned cries and moaned names and excited yips and purrs. If she didn't know the two better, she would think they were…

Cira came into view of the pool, still shrouding herself behind the foliage. She froze, staring at the scene before her.

No amount of preparation could ease her shock, or pain.

She saw Miyu lying atop Fay, pinning her to the ground—their bodies entangled in a single, wet, naked mass. Fay was arching back, overcome with pleasure, her pale-white breasts and rose-colored nipples heaving in the open air and sunset light. Miyu crouched between her legs, fingers exploring the spaniel's core.

Enraged, Mamba lifted her gun and stood up. But before she could approach her earpiece buzzed.

" _Well this isn't family friendly, is it?"_

Gladys.

Mamba searched between the branches. Eventually she caught a glimpse of irregular light—practically unnoticeable unless one were looking for it. Floating just behind a wall of vines was a small surveillance drone. The kind nature magazines used to unobtrusively observe wildlife. The cloaking technology it employed made it the perfect tool for spying on specific targets, which Andross re-purposed it for. The tech involved was simpler than spacecraft cloaking devices; it utilized colored beams of light to mimic what a viewer might see if they could stare straight through the drone. It wasn't as perfect, nor could it hide from thermal imaging or radar, but for Lylatian subjects it did the job.

Cira crouched back down, making sure her prey hadn't spotted her or the surveillance drone.

"The lynx won't see the light of day for long," she warned Gladys in a whisper. "I recovered the artifact. I'll let the bitch live, like you ordered. It'll only take a moment."

Gladys fell into a fit of amused laughter on the other end. _"No no! Don't put an end to this now. The men love it! Do you know how long they've gone without female company? Some of them for months. And all the prettiest darlings in the research base are off limits—that would be myself, Andross' mistress, and you, my sweet."_ She could practically see Gladys winking.

"They're… _getting off_ to this?"

" _Oh yes, you should see them squirming and wolf-whistling. Makes me miss having a—"_

Their conversation was interrupted by Fay's cries.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh! Miyu!"

Mamba watched in disbelief as the lynx backed off, revealing Fay's twitching flower—the petals of which dripped honey. Fay's entire body shook, culminating in one long moan after her muscles fell limp.

It was a beautiful sight, yet all the bounty huntress felt was disgust and boiling rage. That dark memory reared its ugly head. She didn't see them swimming in a mineral spring. All she saw was the reflection of Aquas' blue surface in the water. _How can Miyu touch her after what happened! And they dare kick_ me _from the team? The one that avenged her?_

Once Fay had sufficiently recovered, she sat up and gestured for Miyu to lie down. Miyu seemed to like where that was leading, and obediently lay her back against the cliff bank. Fay lowered herself in the water until just her head and shoulders remained above. She spread Miyu's legs apart, then set to feathering Miyu's pink lips with her tongue. As she worked, she stared up at Miyu with deep blue puppy-dog eyes, delighted by the pleasure mirrored in her face. Growing braver, Fay dragged her tongue upwards in great, full-tongued licks, as if trying to finish a lollipop in as few goes as possible. Miyu alternated between purring and outright moaning. She reached down, jamming the spaniel's head into herself.

The more her teammates made love, the more Cira felt envy bubbling up within.

"When can I kill her?"

Gladys quickly responded, _"Actually, that won't be necessary. As long as you have the necklace the lynx won't be a threat to us. Once we attack the town we can destroy their ships. By the time any word of Badwash' massacre reaches the authorities we will have packed up and left. No one will believe two paranoid girls sobbing about time travel and zombies."_

"But, Andross ordered—"

Gladys yawned across the link. _"What Andross doesn't know won't hurt him. And may I remind you that_ I _am in control of this operation?"_

Cira nearly threw up as Miyu approached climax. The feline's eyes screwed shut and her head flew back. She nearly screamed Fay's name, over and over again. It didn't seem too far from torture—as if someone were burning her with a hot poker, or freezing her with dry ice. Competing with Miyu's cries of pleasure were the screeching and howling pirates in the background of Cira's earpiece. It twisted her gut that they were finding so much pleasure in a sight that brought her so much pain.

As Miyu's cries subsided, and she wrapped her legs around Fay's shoulders, Cira grabbed the surveillance drone out of the air. She shoved it into her pack, then turned to slink away from the pool. Cries of confusion and disappointment filled her earpiece.

" _Aww, you're no fun,"_ Gladys pouted. _"We would've liked to see you join them. Given the way these men are demanding your severed head, I think you might have to find some other way to appease them upon returning. They get bored of just watching, you see."_

"I got the necklace. You can find the rest of the artifacts aboard one of their ships. If you don't want them dead there's nothing more I can do for you. And I've decided against delivering Fay to you. Your men dissuaded me from that."

Gladys sighed. _"Well then, return for your reward. I'll hate to see you go. As for those girls, they'll meet their end one way or another. There's no escaping the carnage to come. And now that the lynx can no longer cheat death, this will truly be her dead end."_

* * *

)◯(

* * *

Exhausted by their love-making, the girls lay upon the shore. The rising steam from the salt spring felt like a sauna, meaning that even outside the healing water clothes were unnecessary.

Miyu reclined on the bank with her arms around Fay, spooning the smaller canine. Fay's wrist comm sat not too far from them, still playing music from the nearby radio station. A new song had begun, sung by a dark feline voice—the first female vocalist Miyu had heard on the station. Her voice was full and filled out the radio waves, hanging onto the last word of each line. And whenever the airy, whimsical violin and flourishing piano took the forefront, she would hum along to their tune.

" _Don't make me live on, I pray  
Knowing each day  
Merely shadows the way  
You made love to me that day._

 _We will never commence  
A more sweeter romance  
The rest of our lives… but after-play."_

Fay purred and pressed her back snuggly into Miyu, and the lynx reciprocated the gesture by caressing her collarbone.

"I wish we could stay here forever," Fay murred. "Just you and me."

Miyu smirked inwardly, knowing that if she really wanted to, they could. It was well within her power to relive that wonderful scene again and again, but her anxiety of doing or saying the wrong thing at the wrong time diminished that desire. She could easily mess things up with Fay, bringing unbearable shame upon herself. No, it was best to continue from here.

Miyu lifted her head onto Fay's shoulder. She whispered in her ear, "We could, you know."

Fay hummed pleasantly and shifted around, rolling over to face Miyu. She nestled into her waiting arms, sharing the warmth and comfort of one another's breasts. "Mmm, we could."

While they talked Miyu absently watched a small galaxy of film and bubbles floating on the pool's surface. The constellation of foam began spinning inwards on itself, as if forming a tiny solar system.

" _I'm glad it was me you chose  
To that other girl  
You gave only no's  
Now with envious rage she glows._

 _She's jealous you see  
Of sweat you and me  
Her evil eye casts us woes."_

"But we really could," Miyu pressed on, caressing the canine's shoulder blades. "Maybe not here, but if we wanted to, couldn't we stay together forever?"

Fay seemed to pull away at that. She pressed her hands against Miyu's stomach, separating their bodies slightly. Miyu felt disappointed when Fay's breasts left her own.

"Well… I don't know if my family would approve."

Miyu snorted. "They already disapprove of you being a mercenary, don't they? I'm sure you disobey them in a lot of ways. What's wrong with adding one more thing to that list?"

Fay lay on her back, staring up at Aquas, her chest splaying out left and right. "I know, but this is a big thing. _We're_ a big thing, Miyu. We can't just rush into this—we're still _young_ and hot-headed and all that."

"But we can try it out." Miyu reached across the bank for Fay, grasping her sides. "And I'm sure once you've gotten more tastes of this, you won't want to give it up. Today was amazing, Fay. And we didn't even know what we were doing. Think how much more of each other we can explore, think of how much more we can love each other when we understand how this works."

"That's what I'm afraid of. This only happened because we _didn't_ know what we were doing. I… I can't shake the feeling that this is…

"…wrong."

When all the bubbles coalesced, and the spinning galaxy slowed, they settled in the shape of an eye.

The sun dipped below Bayoon's horizon. With the last rays of the daylight cutoff, the orange-lit mountainside became cast in darkness. The eclipse twilight had begun.

In a series of swift motions Miyu extricated herself from Fay. She sat upright on the bank, and the spaniel turned to look at her.

"What's wrong?"

"The necklace—I dropped it on the cliffside back there!"

"Oh relax, silly. I stashed it in my jacket."

The moths in Miyu's stomach quit their fluttering, but only for a moment. She turned to look back through the forest, noting with dismay that their changing spot lay out of sight.

Miyu stood up and ran through the bushes. "I need it!"

"But why?" Fay's voice came as she pursued.

She reached their piles of clothes, shocked to see they had been rifled through and lay scattered about the small clearing. Someone had searched through them.

"Oh no..."

Miyu descended upon the clothes like a hurricane, feeling her way through each article with a fine-toothed comb.

"Miyu, you're scaring me."

"I'm always scaring you!" she responded, a bit harsher than she had intended.

Fay clasped her hands in front of her stomach and did a little dance, shivering a bit in the open air. "Why do you need it so much?"

"Because it's our ticket out of here! It's saved me three times already. Without it, we might mess up and get both ourselves killed—and there's no coming back this time! We're dead for good!"

Making herself useful, Fay knelt down and began sifting through the rest of the clothes. "But what's there to kill us? You already KO'd the pirates."

"Well there's _more_ of them! A whole army! And those monsters prowling the swamp in the dark. A whole haunted forest we have to get through. And-and when we get back to Badwash Harbor, guess what's waiting for us? Even more monsters, if they infect the city again. And cultists, and a mad scientist convention, and a pirate death squad..."

Taking a break from her search, Miyu paused to strike herself on the head.

"Oh how could I have been so stupid! I let things get this way. This is all my fault. If I had kept searching for a way out of here rather than lusting after you we wouldn't be in this mess! Stupid, stupid, bitch!"

Fay crouched beside Miyu, placing a gentle paw on her shoulder. "Miyu, don't beat yourself up like this!"

Ignoring her, Miyu continued, "Oh, and don't forget Black Mamba is out hunting for us."

"Do you really think Cira would kill us?"

"She very nearly did!" Miyu retorted. "In fact, I—" She stopped herself from telling Fay she got Cira killed last life, even if it was self-defense and after she had tried to save her.

Miyu sorted through the last garment, grasping for the next but coming up empty.

The necklace was gone.

"Shit! Shit-shit-shit, fucking dammit!"

"It's not here," Fay whimpered.

"You could've dropped it on the way up, but that still doesn't change the fact that someone's _been through our stuff_ ," Miyu reasoned.

"Then why didn't they just kill us after they took it?"

Miyu only had to think for a second before she arrived at an answer.

"Cira."

The thought of the pantheress rooting through their belongings like a hyena through a carcass sent shivers down Miyu's spine. Cira was mere yards away from their position. An excellent sniper could've shot them at a hundred. They were distracted with each other and unprotected, having shed their guns with the rest of their clothes. She had to have heard them carrying on—had to have _seen_ the shameful acts they committed together. Yet she still didn't kill them. She chose to let them live on in fear, knowing they would die some way or another, perhaps more horrifically than a bullet to the head.

"Miyu? What now?"

Miyu stood, wrapping her arms around herself, feeling completely alone and exposed in the darkness. She never felt so naked and unprotected than without that necklace. Each path lying before them was a dead end in a nightmarish maze. The certainty was death. Fear and uncertainty the path leading to it. There were no more second chances, and trial and error was no longer an option.

"Miyu?"

Miyu was powerless. She stood there, shivering in the dark, feeling thousands of eyes of monsters peering at her from between the trees.

Every evil eye was on her.


	12. Between A Rock And A Wet Place

_A/N : The theme song for this chapter is linked on my profile. I suggest listening to it_ after _the chapter, because it's louder than the previous two. This time I mugged and robbed goreshit's "The Pain of Relief". Hope you enjoy._

 **Chapter 12: Between A Rock And A Wet Place**

* * *

)◯(

* * *

Miyu collapsed onto the ground, at a loss. She shook her head slowly.

"I'm sorry Fay. I'm so sorry! I got us into this. If only I didn't lose my head back there and run off—we could've returned to our ships and left this place for good. We could've returned the necklace as well, maybe gotten some sort of reward for returning _most_ of the items… but I blew it!"

Fay knelt behind her and rubbed her shoulders. "There's no way you could've known, Miyu. This isn't your fault."

"I was wrong! I shouldn't have taken advantage of you like that. I'm no better than those men on Aquas—"

"Don't say that! I wanted this too, for your sake. I wanted to help you recover, any way I could. I'm glad we did this… I just wish it had a better ending."

"But you gave into my advances. I manipulated you, Fay. I knew you cared for me and felt sorry for me, and I used those feelings for my own desires. I took advantage of you."

Fay scooted around Miyu and planted a kiss on her cheek. "What can I say to convince you otherwise? I'm not an idiot, Miyu! I know what I'm doing. You don't control me, you're not responsible for my actions. If you make a gift enticing enough, and I take it… it's because I wanted it. There's nothing to feel guilty about."

"You don't understand, it's more than that. I wasn't thinking straight. We should've kept moving. We should've kept watch, returned to the harbor—anything but this! Now it's gone. Our only shot at survival, gone!"

Miyu pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in them. As her body shook with faint sobs, Fay wrapped her arms around her, trying to comfort her.

"Aww, Miyu…"

While the lynx softly cried, the song on the radio continued to play. The singer's voice filled the void of silence the two girls left:

" _But as long as it's with you, my dear  
I might never fear  
Her wishes appear  
If you hold me and keep me… near."_

The feline vocalist held the last note, leaving just enough time for the violin and piano to resume the main theme and fade out. Fay's wrist comm went silent for a minute—suspiciously long, in fact, before switching to a new song. Was it the Darling boy who mentioned the DJ was sick? That couldn't be normal.

Eclipse was fully upon them. The grove of hot springs was bathed in shadows, but ghostly light patterns reflecting off the water danced and wiggled on the tree trunks and leaves. Miyu came out of her shell a bit, grabbing her own wrist unit from the pile of clothes and checking the time.

 _9:09 AM…_

That didn't seem right for some reason. She had checked the time the eclipse came at Chasme's tent. 9:06 if she recalled correctly. That wasn't what bothered her. The song playing back then was the religious recital, foretelling the coming apocalypse. But it didn't air tonight—the whimsical love song replaced it. So far, no one retained their memories or acted differently after the resets—not like her. Unless Miyu directly influenced them, or Gladys used her own necklace to sic the pirates on them, all the 'Yoons acted the exact same way. If the DJ was playing different songs, that must mean…

Miyu sprang up. "Fay, get your clothes on!"

"Yes! You have an idea?"

"I know where to go. Get dressed and I'll explain it."

"Okay, just let me get my underwear." Fay started off towards the springs again, but Miyu stopped her.

"What're you doing?!"

She gestured towards the pool. "Remember? You had the bright idea to toss my panties into—"

"Forget them! We have to hurry!"

"Ohh I'll get you for this!"

* * *

)◯(

* * *

Under cover of twilight darkness the girls climbed the mountain path. The journey took them nearly an hour, and by the time they reached Obukula's summit they were once again breathless and fatigued.

Miyu gestured for Fay to halt when they reached the treeline; the trunks and foliage abruptly ended near the mountain's rocky summit. A sparse stretch of grass and bushes lay between them and a building complex. The compound stood at the top of the mountain exactly where the Darlings had indicated. A skeletal radio tower stood at the center, towering above the other buildings. The next tallest structure was a lighthouse-shaped observatory, with a round dome and a fat, cylindrical piece of equipment gazing out. Lower to the ground sprawled a number of interconnected buildings.

"Is this where they broadcast Badwash's radio channel?" Fay whispered.

"Judging from the giant tower, yes. Though it looks to be more than just a radio station. There's an observatory as well, and a satellite dish on the left. Some other pointy objects and arrays… looks like a weather station. Gee, they needed to cram a lot of things on this mountain, right?

"I mean, it's the highest place around. The rest of the swamplands are pretty flat."

The teammates observed the buildings some more, searching for signs of life. Strangely, the compound seemed empty. None of the weather instruments or AC units atop the buildings moved, nor were any lights on inside.

"Looks abandoned," Fay observed.

"It could be a trap. Someone has to be broadcasting all those songs." Miyu cautiously left the safety of the bushes. "Come on, we have to check. But for god's sake, be quiet!"

"Got it. Shh!"

Keeping low to the ground they darted across the open field. When they reached the complex they pressed their backs to the wall.

"Look!" Fay exclaimed.

Miyu followed the direction she indicated down the slope of the mountain. From this vantage point they could see the majority of the dark forest, the reflective marshlands, and the tiny dotted lights of Badwash Harbor. To the west lay the fairgrounds. Ablaze.

"What's going on?" Fay asked in a high-pitched voice. "It looks like it's on fire…"

"It's a slaughter," Miyu flatly answered. "The pirates infected the town, and now they're collecting the results. I was there during my last life. It was… awful. It makes sense they would raid the festival in this life, too."

"But we're safe up here, right?"

Miyu shook her head. "From the carnage down there? Yes. But a few monsters were roaming the swamp during the eclipse, so we have to watch out for them. They'll be easy to spot in the dark. If you see a glowing yellow light in the distance, _run._ "

As Miyu slid towards the entrance Fay took one last look at the chaos unfolding below, so far removed from them. She sighed, then turned to follow Miyu.

Disconcertingly the doors were unlocked, but they padded inside anyway. Every little noise from their boots echoed down the interior hallways, no matter how much care they took to be quiet. So far they spotted no one inside.

"Let's find the studio room," Miyu suggested. "The DJ has to be in there. If not, maybe they have an automated playlist?"

"Should we…"

Miyu turned around to face Fay, cutting off her idiotic suggestion. She shone her wrist comm into her own eyes, making sure Fay could see their judgmental stare.

"Oh… yeah, I don't really want to split up."

"Good. I didn't think you wanted to die alone. Now, watch our backs. I'll lead the way."

The girls crept further inside, scanning the halls with their wrist units' flashlights. Behind every corner and opened doorway, Miyu could feel demons lurking, waiting to pounce. Yet none over did. They remained hidden, torturing her with their absence.

Upon rounding a corner, both their flashlights jumped to the same location. A bright red smatter of blood covered the wall before them, which dripped in dried streaks to the floor below.

"Miyu!"

The lynx studied the blood-stained wall. "Well something happened here."

"Pirates?"

"Pirates. Doesn't look like one of those monsters did this, or there'd be yellow goop everywhere. Looks rather old, too. Certainly not within the last 24-hours. This is someone we can't save, no matter what."

"But where's his body?"

Miyu lowered her flashlight to the ground, where she spotted a trail of blood droplets leading down the hall.

"This way."

They followed the trail through the darkened hallways, eventually coming upon a pair of glass exit doors leading to a courtyard. Blue light from the eclipse illuminated the floor inside the doors, where the red stains lead out. The girls shouldered their way through the doors, searching for where the trail ended. Immediately when they exited a wall of stench nearly bowled them over. It filled their nostrils with putrid decay, the death in the air almost tangible.

"Oh Miyu…"

The droplets of blood traveled across the ground to a series of manhole covers in the dirt. The lynx daringly approached but stopped halfway. She didn't have to check inside. From the emptiness of the buildings, the vile stench, and the sound of bugs swarming within, they had found what remained of the station's occupants.

Miyu covered her mouth with one paw and used the other to wave Fay back. They sprinted inside the building, letting the doors close behind them.

"We're… too late for them. Much too late," Miyu gasped. "I'm sorry, Fay. Some things can't be changed."

In the dim twilight glow she could see Fay intently staring back at the septic tank, which lay beneath the ground. The obscenest of graves. And from the fire in Fay's eyes, she thought so too.

Miyu lay a paw on her shoulder. "Let's just get out of here, okay?"

Fay silently nodded. She turned and followed Miyu back through the halls, quietly seething.

"I don't understand," Miyu continued. "If the DJ played different songs across lives, that means he must have an artifact, too. Or at least have been influenced by someone else who has a necklace, like Gladys."

"And why kill everyone in the radio station! Why is this place so special? Why did they have to die..." Fay's outburst turned into a whimper.

This time they didn't have their flashlights solely trained on the bloodstains in the center of the floor. As their lights wandered, they picked up more of their surroundings. The occupants weren't the only ones to have been destroyed; computers were shot through, displays ruined, and piles of documents lay burned on the floor.

"They were destroying information, and the people who _knew_ that information," Miyu reasoned. "There's something they don't want us finding here. It just sucks for us that everything has been defaced or wrecked completely, or we'd be able to find out what."

"There's a lot of glass everywhere, and fragments of placards. Almost like this is some museum. Maybe it had references to the artifacts?"

Miyu stumbled upon a black and white checkered pattern on one of the walls, next to where a picture had hung. It was a matrix barcode, designed to be easily scannable via PDU. In an instant, she scanned the code with her comm unit. It pulled up a link to the station's website, with information on what the picture had formerly contained.

"What did you find?"

Miyu turned her display so Fay could see it. "It's a virtual tour. You know, those things they have in museums where you scan the barcodes and it gives you extra information? Big oversight on the pirates' part. They destroyed everything physical, but forgot to take down their website. Must be hosted someplace else."

"Well? What was in that picture? What's it talk about?"

Miyu browsed through the page, reading its contents but having trouble loading the images.

"It's information on the Pillar—that giant cloud thing always connects Bayoon to Aquas. You know we're dead center underneath it, right?"

"Anything else on there? Or we could scavange for more barcodes."

Miyu navigated to the site's index where she found several featured pages. She glanced over the categories, reading a bit into each one. _"Creeper's Rock… formerly thought to be a meteorite, but has a similar makeup to other materials in Bayoon's mantle… Mount Obukula… named after the pagan underworld. Uncharacteristically tall for swamplands such as Badwash… Differences in the Magnetic Fields of Bayoon and Aqaus… The History of Travel Between Bayoon and Its Sister… Lagrange Rock, Dwelling of the Angels…"_

That last page peaked her interest. She followed the link, pulling up a variety of information on Lagrange Rock.

"What is it?" Fay was unable to read over her shoulder.

Miyu reported interesting tidbits to her as she read. "It's some sort of asteroid gravitationally caught between Aquas and Bayoon. Or, it looks like an asteroid. Again, it's made from similar material as Bayoon's interior. It's 50 kilometers above us, actually, hidden in the Pillar."

"How big is it? Do you think it's important?"

Miyu scanned some more. "Roughly 400 meters at its longest diameter. Irregularly-shaped, slightly rounded. That _is_ big. And it's floating above our heads. I wonder if we could see it…"

The lynx noticed a square pattern of blue light in the floor, indicating a skylight above. She stepped over to it, tripping on some rubble along the way. When she reached it, she stared straight up.

"I'll check the radio again," Fay's quiet voice echoed from somewhere else in the room. She turned on her wrist comm, which was still tuned to the same frequency as before. She was just in time to catch the chorus of another song. A coyote with a scraggly, weathered voice belted out the lyrics over uplifting power chords.

" _So take me higher  
Take me higher  
Above the smoke  
And all the fire_

 _Take me higher  
Take me higher  
Cause gravity  
Is just a liar…"_

The song grew louder as Fay approached, who craned her neck to gaze where Miyu was looking. All they could see through the ceiling windows was the massive column of clouds blocking the blue disk of Aquas.

" _I still have hope  
Because I know  
While at rock bottom...  
The only place to go…"_

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Miyu asked.

"… _Is up."_

As the last guitar chord faded Fay switched her radio off. She nodded slowly.

"You know, that explains a lot," Miyu said. "You destroyed one of Mamba's engines when we first arrived here, remember? We flew through a storm in the Pillar. The only place she could have gone was Badwash, directly below us. But after searching the swamp, we couldn't find her ship. What if she wasn't trying to lose us in the Pillar? What if that was her rendezvous point? Lagrange Rock?"

"They must have a base hidden there," Fay picked up. "Seems like the perfect spot, too—if they want to study Badwash but still be hidden. It also explains why they had to…" Trailing off, she gestured at the destruction around them. "So I guess we have to fly up there?"

Miyu nodded.

"But how? It looks like the pirates are swarming all over the harbor! They must've found our ships by now."

"I'm more worried about the journey back down there," the lynx admitted. "It's dark out, and even more Aquan zombies must be prowling the wilderness. The pirates couldn't possibly slaughter all of them."

"Then how are we going to get up there?"

Miyu bit her lip, thinking.

"…I may have a way up. But you're not going to like it."

"Whatever you have in mind, I'm sure it's fine."

* * *

)◯(

* * *

"This is insaaaaane!"

The girls dangled from a weather balloon already hundreds of feet above the research and radio station. Miyu had a hunch the outpost monitored the weather surrounding the Pillar, which meant they would have weather balloons among their equipment. Her hunch proved right.

"It's either this, or we run like chickens through the swamp! I thought you wanted to help the Aquans?"

The journey was risky—deathly risky. Fay had only agreed to go if Miyu could properly secure them to the balloon, which she did with an abundance of harnesses, straps, and safety rope. They would've taken a parachute or two if the base contained any. Currently the only parachutes they owned were stashed aboard their interceptors.

Fay clung to Miyu's torso for dear life—even though she could safely let go without falling because of their makeshift harness. Anytime she looked down her eyes would comically bug out and she'd squeeze Miyu tighter.

"You're a pilot Fay. You shouldn't be afraid of heights."

"When I'm in my ship, yes! Out in the open air, hanging by mere threads, is another matter! Oh…"

She placed a hand over her mouth and set her chin on Miyu's shoulder. The lynx recoiled.

"Please don't barf on me!"

"I won't!" Fay whined. "Just don't move so much, you're making me even sicker."

Miyu looked down to see what all the fuss was about. She should've known she'd see the dark swamp of Badwash with hundreds of feet of nothing between them. The harbor and fairgrounds continued to shimmer like orange embers, and at this height the research outpost was no bigger than Miyu's thumb held at arm's length.

A gust of wind picked up, buffeting the girls around on the end of the balloon. Needless to say, Fay constricted her grasp around Miyu even tighter.

"Fay!" the lynx choked out, "you're strangling me! There's not a lot of air up here!"

"We've been over that. The atmosphere is pretty thick most of the way up. You won't suffocate."

"I will if you keep that tight a grip on me!"

"Okay, sorry. Hey, look, a cloud!"

"Cloud?"

Miyu looked up past the ghostly, bloated orb of the weather balloon. A light blue wall of clouds rushed down to meet them, stretching as far as she could see in any direction. The girls closed their eyes and tensed, but both the balloon and themselves melded through the ceiling of cumulus. All they felt was a blanket of mist enveloping them, quickly saturating their fur.

"I hope after soaking up all this water the balloon can still hold us," the lynx said worriedly.

Sure enough, their descent had slowed—both from their soaked clothes and fur, and the thick layer of clouds the balloon had to shoulder its way through.

"Water!" Miyu yipped.

"What's wrong with it?"

"I don't like water. It's slimy and smooth and cold—and it gets everywhere."

"You would literally die without water," Fay retorted.

"Or die _from_ it! You could drown or catch pneumonia. It's freezing up here!" This time it was the feline's turn to hug her partner tighter. The warmth from Fay's body counteracted the involuntary shivers she felt.

"Thank you," Miyu said.

"For what?"

"Just… being there."

"D'aw…"

After several minutes of silence Miyu felt herself becoming bored.

"So… how long do you think this'll take?" she asked. "I'm hoping we can beat the invasion force back to their base."

Fay ran through some calculations out loud. "Well, I'd say we're rising at about… 500 meters per minute. And Lagrange Rock is 50 kilometers above us, so… like two hours?"

"Oh…" Miyu awkwardly looked at the fog surrounding them. Besides the balloon and the two girls, their immediate vicinity was devoid of... anything, really. Above, below, and all around them was nothing but a cloud-filled void, illuminated with an ambient blue glow. It felt like rising through a featureless ocean, which for Miyu made it ten times worse.

"So…" Miyu ventured, "wanna bone?"

The wind whistled during their silence.

"Are you nuts?"

Miyu shifted, adjusting Fay's grip. "I mean, there's not much else we can do up here, and you're not wearing panties. It'd pass the time!"

"Miyu, we're thousands of feet in the air!"

"I've heard people doing it in stranger places!"

Fay yawned and patted her mouth. "I'm sorry Miyu, I don't want to get aroused. I'd have a heart attack. I think… I think I need a rest. Remember, I haven't slept since the last time I was here."

It seemed like so long ago that they had fought Cira above Bayoon. While Fay allowed Miyu to rest, she had stayed up to manage her autopilot and safely ferry them both to Badwash Harbor. Fay had been up much longer than her.

"Do you think you can catch a quick nap up here?" Miyu asked.

"I can try," Fay huffed. She draped her arms over Miyu's shoulders and rested her head. Miyu could feel the other girl's heart beating rapidly in her chest, accompanied by quick puffs of air against her neck. She lifted a hand and stroked the canine's head and floppy ears, trying to calm her. Soon, her pulse subsided, and her breaths became warm and slow.

 _Two more hours…_ Miyu had no idea how she would pass the time, or endure the progressively colder air. But she found solace in Fay's warmth. If _she_ could rest peacefully, it had to be safe. Miyu took courage in that, and diligently kept watch for their destination.

* * *

◯✹(

* * *

Miyu nearly fell asleep herself during their ascent. Eventually she lost track of time and was just about to doze off when the thick cloud surrounding them lit up. It shifted through a rainbow of morning colors: dark blue, purple, light pink, warm orange, and finally triumphant gold. While it was post-eclipse afternoon at their altitude, the rest of Badwash beneath them would still be shrouded in twilight.

Miyu elbowed Fay awake. "Look!" she cried.

The spaniel took in a great big yawn and smacked her lips, eyes fighting to stay open. She blinked and looked around at the glowing cloud, then down, which was a mistake. She yipped and went back to holding Miyu with an iron grip. "Oh dear!"

"Rise and shine, it's morning," the lynx beamed. "Actually, I guess it's afternoon. Did you have a nice siesta?"

"I dreamed of falling the entire time," Fay admitted. "How long have I been out?"

"Seems like forever. It has to have been two hours by now. I guess your calculations were off by a bit?"

"I was just estimating—Oh!"

At that moment their weather balloon broke through the top of the clouds and into open air. The bright sun peeked at them between Aquas and Bayoon, immediately warming them and setting to work drying their clothes. Within the cloud it was impossible to gauge how high off the ground they were. But now in an open gap they could see all around them; the tops of the fluffy cumulus, the warmly-colored afternoon sky, and Bayoon's landscape thousands of feet below. Once again, the sight proved dizzying. But after so long kept in the suffocating dark the girls truly felt like they could breathe again.

"There it is!" Fay exclaimed, pointing above them.

Miyu looked up, gasping when she saw Lagrange Rock. It was potato-shaped, like an asteroid had been caught between the two satellites. Small craters and pinholes dotted its surface, but the first sign of something amiss was the bright metallic protrusions jutting out of its side, which caught the glow of the afternoon sun. Lagrange Rock was huge—the shear, unnatural sight a boulder of its size floating weightless in the sky filled them with a sense of wonder.

"Let's land over there," Miyu said, pointing to an open hangar spanning across much of the object's flank.

"Got it." Fay unclipped a fire extinguisher from Miyu's back. "You'll have to direct me," she said as she pointed the nozzle behind Miyu. Fay yanked the chord and began spraying the pressurized nitrogen and carbon dioxide like rocket fuel, propelling them towards Lagrange Rock. Because she was facing away from the station, Miyu had to guide her.

"Give it all you've got Fay. Don't let up!"

Fay kept the spray going, propelling them closer and closer to the floating boulder.

"A little to the left," Miyu warned. "No, _my_ left, _my_ left!"

"Sorry!"

Because they had reached the center of gravity between the two satellites the balloon no longer sped straight upwards; only its momentum had carried them that far. Now they had to completely rely on the fire extinguisher to travel. The ball of helium that had previously lifted them so far now proved a hindrance; it lagged behind wherever they traveled, dragging them back.

Miyu unsheathed a tactical knife from her belt. "Can't watch anymore, Fay; I'm busy."

Fay did her best to look over her shoulder while Miyu set to cutting them loose from the balloon. She sawed away at the chords until the rubber ball of helium broke free, no longer restricting their movement.

"We're almost there, Miyu," Fay said as she looked back. Her eyes widened when she noticed their rope swinging limply about, balloon-less. "Miyu! Where's our balloon?! We're gonna die!" the spaniel screamed in her ear.

"Relax, we're fine! Just keep blowing the fire extinguisher!"

"Oh god, oh god! We're gonna fall!"

Miyu guided Fay to blow them closer to the open hangar. During their first approach they missed, flying straight by.

"We're passing it!" Fay cried out. "No-no-no!"

"Point it the other way!"

Before they could speed too much towards Aquas—and certain death—Fay blew the extinguisher in the opposite direction, guiding them back towards the hangar. At long last they passed through the forcefield and into the interior of the station. As soon as they entered, the artificial gravity kicked in, smashing them against the floor. The girls cried out and moaned in pain, resting in a lethargic pile on the floor.

"For a moment I forgot what it was like to weigh something…" Fay groaned. "It was actually pretty nice."

After removing their harnesses and safety rope, they stood up and brushed themselves off, looking around the hangar. Fortunately it looked deserted. Most of the ships were gone, save for a few broken-down pirate vessels. At least one of the ships looked to be in working condition, which meant they had an escape route when the time came.

Miyu waved her blaster. "Come on, let's look around. Keep an eye out for Cira, Gladys, and that necklace."

"Roger that," Fay giggled. They took off across the hangar floor, ducking into one of the exits along the wall.

* * *

◯✹(

* * *

They had a few close run-ins with guards left behind to patrol the halls, but fortunately they made it aboard the station before the rest of their enemies returned. Because of this, they traversed the cramped corridors with relative ease. Yet they couldn't rest knowing security cameras were pointed at them from every direction. Hopefully the pirates on surveillance detail took the absence of their superiors to nap.

Through trial and error they checked inside door after door, but either came up with empty rooms or ones occupied by foes. On the seventh room, however, they scored a home run. Through the window in the doorway they saw a porcupine hunched over a music rig. He wore a pair of aviator headphones and was nodding absently to a song, which came from a black vinyl record spinning on a turntable in front of him. Stacks of such records littered the room to the point of overflowing. The porcupine's quilled back was turned towards them, and any sound they made was drowned out by his headphone set. But sitting in a chair opposite the DJ was another pirate, keeping him under close watch. He appeared to be distracted by his PDU.

"Are you sure that DJ is on our side?" Fay whispered.

"Positive. He doesn't look anything like these pirates. I think they captured him from the research outpost when they raided it. But first things first…"

Miyu cracked the door open and poked her blaster through. The metal hinges squealed, alerting the pirate to her presence. He looked up from his PDU and started up when he saw Miyu's gun.

"Hey, how did you—"

Miyu fired at him, but he jumped from his chair and fired back. The lynx shielded herself behind the door, then shoved her blaster back through and finished him off. With two burning holes in his frayed clothing, the guard toppled to the floor. Miyu and Fay entered the room, realizing that the porcupine hadn't even noticed the firefight take place behind him. He sang quietly along to whatever song he was playing, oblivious. Miyu approached his desk and sat down on top of it, kicking her feet restlessly until he noticed her.

When he looked up and saw the feline, he did a double take. He tossed his headset aside and jumped out of his chair.

"M-Miyu! What are you doing here?!"

"So you know my name?" Miyu nodded at the door for Fay to take up sentry duty.

"I do! Many of the pirates here know who you are. Oooh I'd almost given up after you lost that voodoo necklace! You know you're the only hope for Badwash, and if you were to give up, I think… I think _I_ might give up too!"

"I've heard a bit about you as well. You're Badwash's star DJ, right?"

"Yes… yes you can call me Okarin!" He squeezed his paws together and bounced back and forth between his feet. "Oooh I'm so glad to meet you in person! I'm amazed that you snuck aboard this remote station! Tell me, did you get my messages? Did you hear my songs?"

"We did. You were quite helpful, Okarin. Your songs lead us right here."

"Oooh good! That pirate captain—Gladys—she had you under surveillance, you know!"

"Surveillance?" Fay questioned, taking a break from watching the door to look back.

"That explains the feeling of being watched," Miyu growled. "How did she do it?"

"She had a drone follow you around. Ever since you arrived on Bayoon, in fact. It beamed camera footage and position data to an operations room back here. I know because the pirates liked to watch you during their breaks. I watched too, rooting for you—even some of the pirates cheered you on. I knew you were Badwash's only hope, so I had to find a way to help you without blowing my cover. I played songs related to whatever you were doing, hoping you would notice they strangely synced up. I tried to warn you about that Black Mamba girl coming to steal the necklace, but that time they wouldn't let me play anything besides sappy romantic music! Oooh! Do you know how many songs fit that genre while still containing lyrics about a third jealous party creeping up on two unaware lovers? Only two in my collection, and I couldn't warn you until after she had left. Oooh I was so worried!"

Miyu looked down, lost in thought. "That's right, she didn't kill us. Why…" She looked back up at Okarin. "Why didn't she finish us off? Do you know?"

Okarin scratched at the quills on his head. "Mmm, from what I saw and heard of her conversation with Gladys, I got the impression that you were once friends?"

"Friends…"

"Do you know her well?"

Miyu slowly nodded. "When Fay and I first formed our team we hired Cira. She's a skilled bounty hunter, though she's always so distant. I never got along with her. I tried to be nice, but she rebuffed all my efforts." She nodded towards the door. "Fay was the only one who had any success with her. That's just the way she is; extremely friendly and not easily discouraged. During the two years we worked together, Fay managed to break down Cira's walls, and they became friends. Their relationship might not look like much from the outside. You could hardly call it sociable. But Cira was always a loner. To her, that was the closest she's ever been to having a real friendship."

Okarin's demeanor fell. "Oooh… something terrible must have happened to drive you apart like this."

"It-it was pretty terrible," Miyu admitted. She lowered her voice and made sure Fay's back was turned to them. "The last mission we ran together was on Aquas. We were searching the sailor's bars looking for information. We were… in over our heads, I guess. It wasn't a place for three young girls to be. Fay… something happened to Fay, and I wasn't around to help her. Cira was there to stop them from going any further, but… she killed them all. She went too far! The violence she caused traumatized Fay more than those rowdy sailors did. I-I was thankful that she rescued Fay in time, but those men didn't have to die—especially in front of Fay like that. She was horrified. She didn't speak for a week. I knew Cira didn't have much of a conscience, but it was a risk we took when we hired her. We were all young, and we hoped we could still change her. I think… I think she changed us instead. Regardless, I kicked her off the team. I've never forgiven her for that. I don't think Cira has forgiven me either."

Okarin _tsked_. "I think there's still hope. She seemed really disappointed when she saw you two—" but he cut himself off, eyes widening.

"Go on," Miyu coaxed. "When we were—" But she cut herself off as well, realizing the same thing Okarin did. Not sure if she wanted to hear the answer, she asked, "Was everything Fay and I did in the hot springs broadcast back here?"

Okarin looked away sheepishly. "M-maybe..."

An intensely awkward silence permeated the room, suffocating the occupants in embarrassment. Miyu, Fay, and Okarin couldn't bring themselves to look at each other, their faces burning warmly.

Breaking the silence, Miyu took the porcupine's hand in her own. "Um, thank you Okarin; you've been a bigger help than you realize. I've lived this day multiple times, and I'm beginning to recall more and more instances when the songs you played should have warned me something was amiss. If I was more attentive, I bet I could've saved us a lot of trouble early on. But now that we're here, Okarin, can you tell us what's going on?"

Okarin scratched his head again. "Oooh I'm afraid I don't know much about this voodoo nonsense. You'd have to ask one of the scientists working here."

"Would they tell us? Aren't they working for Gladys?"

"Well, some of them are, and some of them were abducted like me. But there's one I'm sure will have a kind heart. She's the mistress of Andross."

"Andross?" Miyu tilted her head.

"Yes, the head scientist. I'm sure his mistress knows the inside scoop on all the voodoo going about here. I've run into her several times, and she's a very nice woman."

"Where can we find her?"

"I have to stay here and keep playing these songs, but if you turn left out this door, continue to the end of the hallway and take a right, her quarters are the third door on the left side again. If she's not there, she's either in the labs, or perhaps Andross took her down to Badwash. Got all that?"

Miyu nodded. She hopped off the desk and gingerly wrapped her arms around Okarin, careful not to touch the quills on his back. "Thank you so much Okarin—you have the best taste in music!"

"Oooh you betcha I do!" Okarin waved as they left the room. But before they disappeared, he sheepishly called out, "Y… you're very pretty together!" to which the girls giggled in response.

They followed Okarin's directions until they reached the quarters in question. The door was unlocked so they let themselves in. The interior surprised them; it was decorated more luxuriously than the rest of the floating laboratory.

"This Andross dude must treat his lady friend well," Miyu commented. Her eyes became distracted by the viewing window, which looked out onto the golden clouds lit by the afternoon sun. Both the lagoon blue surface of Aquas and the emerald green disk of Bayoon were visible, creating dual horizons. The station was oriented in such a way that on every level, down was towards Bayoon.

"She's not here though," Fay commented after checking the bathroom. She came out holding some bottles of deep orange coloring. "She must like dyeing her fur a lot."

"What are you doing here?"

The girls spun around, hands darting for their blasters.

A vixen stood defiantly in the doorway, paws on her hips while she stared them down. She wore a brown coat pushed down off her shoulders but still clinging to her by the sleeves. It was opened to a white dress shirt and a red tie. But her most noticeable feature was the unnatural blue hue of her fur.

"Whoa," Miyu said. "Where'd you get that blue coat?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but quickly caught herself. After thinking for a few seconds, she sighed and answered, "Dye. It's just… dye."

Fay looked back and forth between the azure-colored vixen and the bottles of orange dye in her paws. Something didn't add up, but she shrugged and set the bottles down on the counter.

The vixen stepped inside and closed the door, locking it. She stared at Miyu, the expression on her face slowly softening. "Are you… the lynx Andross keeps ranting about?"

"I guess I am," Miyu said. She stepped forward and offered her paw. "Miyu Tsukkikage. And this is my friend, Fay MacDane."

"Vixy Reinard," she said as she shook her paw. "MacDane… are you by any chance related to General Pepper MacDane?"

Fay nodded. "Yep; I'm his niece."

"That's a strange coincidence. I've worked on several projects for him, and he often contracts my husband for mercenary services. It's how we met, really."

"Oh… neat!" Fay chirped. "I wish my uncle wasn't so distracted by his job. I'm never able to spend enough time with him."

Vixy cleared her throat. "I'm sure when this matter is over we can all get coffee somewhere—perhaps with your uncle, Fay. Right now, though, is there anything I can help you girls with?"

"Why yes there is," Miyu said calmly. She grabbed onto Vixy, who jumped in surprise. She shouted in her face, "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!"

"Oh dear!" Vixy gasped. She fell onto a couch, recovering. "I assume you must have a lot of questions. Where shall I begin?"

"You can start with that chemical," Miyu prompted. "Yellow 60 lake."

* * *

Cira stopped in front of the laboratory doors. She gazed in through the containment gates, searching the dense mists for the silhouettes of scientists moving within. She didn't realize it, but it was not the first time she had stood outside waiting for the doctor.

The pantheress activated the intercom. She spoke into it, merely saying, "Here."

She patiently waited in the corridor, tail flicking to and fro. In a few moments, a shadow approached the doors and they hissed open, allowing the figure through. Andross emerged wearing a long white lab coat—Cira presumed their experiments didn't require the hazmats that day.

"Ah, Ms. Cortez. Sorry to keep you waiting, but these tests delayed me."

"I thought… I thought you'd be down on the surface with everyone else."

Andross yawned. "Been there, done that." He rolled down his sleeves and buttoned them back up as he spoke. "Quite exhilarating, being in the midst of all that fire and carnage and raw, visceral science! But I'm much too impatient to try it again. Now, did you get the other necklace?"

Without speaking, Cira opened the collar of her catsuit and displayed the chain and pendent hanging over her chest.

Andross clapped his hands. "Splendid! I wonder if anything special happens if I wear two of them at once. Maybe they will summon an ancient demon or open a portal... Oh but I've already done that. Anyway, I assume you brought Pepper's niece back as well?"

Cira's ears flattened against her skull. "I didn't."

Andross blinked. "Oh? What a pity. Dead then?"

"N-no…"

"Well, what about the lynx? If you stole the necklace, you must've killed her, correct?"

Cira shrank back even further.

Reading her physical cue, Andross lashed out and struck his fist against the metal containment doors. "You let her _live_? _"_

"It-it was Gladys' own orders!"

"Argh! That confused cross-dresser. What was he thinking? _Why?_ Why didn't he have you kill her?"

Cira inwardly fumed as she told Andross about the events in the hot springs. Andross set to pacing back and forth through the corridor.

"Unbelievable! Purely childish and immature of him. Letting our greatest immediate enemy live just so his men could masturbate to an exhibitionist show. Gladys has got to go. Have you ever noticed, my dear, that the greatest minds in Lylat are always brought down by the fools surrounding them? It's never any tragic fault of their own. Scientists, entrepreneurs, politicians, kings, artists, businessmen—they all meet ruin at the bumbling hands of incompetent idiots in power." He scratched his beard. "I may kill Gladys in this life for spite."

"Is Miyu—is the lynx that much of a threat, Doctor?"

The simian's wrist comm chirped and he answered it. "Oh what it is now? Was Gladys bit by an Aquan? Please tell me Gladys was bit by an Aquan." He listened and nodded for a few minutes before exclaiming, "HERE?!" In a fit of rage he removed his wrist unit and flung it to the ground. Pointing an accusatory finger at Cira, he bellowed, "What did I tell you? Your dyke friend did the impossible and made it aboard this station! All you confused women are trouble! All of you! And you're not even all women!"

"Miyu? Here?"

"Yes _here!_ Good news my child; you have a new assignment. Bring me the lynx's head. Now. Finish what you started, and I'll see if I can get rid of Gladys. Your two former _friends_ were last spotted between the hangar and the residence halls. Go, head them off!"

"Y-yes sir!"

Closing her collar, Cira ran off down the hall, boots clopping against the metallic floor.

* * *

"Yellow 60 lake," Vixy repeated. "It all comes back to that, doesn't it? In short, it's our code name for a chemical used for mass mind-control."

Miyu sat down on the couch opposite the vixen while Fay rolled her eyes and went to watch the door again.

The lynx raised her eyebrows. " _Mind-control?"_

"Perhaps I should begin with Andross. He's one of General Pepper's lead scientists—I met him when we were assigned to the same government project years back. He became interested in the irregularities of Bayoon—Aquas' moon. Theoretically, this satellite makes no sense. The gravity is much too strong for a body of this mass, tidal forces should have ripped it to shreds, and it doesn't have the necessary velocity to stay in orbit. Most astrophysicists gave up on Bayoon, but not Andross. He heard rumors of advanced ancient civilizations and came here to investigate. He studied the history of Aquas wherever he could find it—textbooks, papers, ancient traditions and rituals, artifacts—eventually he came across the Society of the Third Eye. That's when it all changed."

Miyu shifted uncomfortably. She crossed her arms over her stomach, feeling a bit sick. "I had the displeasure of meeting them myself."

"Did you know they worship an ancient creature named Bacoon—after which this moon is named? Well, in some dialects the Aquans replaced C's with Y's, but I won't get sidetracked. Thousands of years ago, this leviathan secreted a chemical which permeated the oceans and infected the Aquans' drinking water. It spread large amounts of bacteria which contained magnetosomes—nanometer-sized particles of magnetite enclosed within the bacterial walls. These affect the hippocampus of the host creature, and evolve the parietal eye over time—yes, an actual third eye that is prominent in all amphibian species, but lies mostly undeveloped in outsiders such as ourselves. These magnetosomes are highly attuned to Aquas' magnetic field. Bacoon the sea god has a high amount of these himself, and the largest developed parietal eye of any known creature in the Lylat System—if he's even _from_ the Lylat System. He used these to manipulate the magnetic field of Aquas and control its inhabitants. Under his influence they built an advanced empire marked by technological achievement."

Miyu nodded along. It was beginning to make sense now: the carnival ride, Chasme's ramblings, the cultists' ceremony...

"He had the Aquans hollow out Bayoon—the leftovers of which became the Meteo asteroid belt and Lagrange Rock itself; we're inside one of those fragments of Bayoon's interior as we speak. The sea god built a temple directly above us, now sunken beneath Aquas' ocean, which holds the satellite in place even to this day. Well, he lifted himself from Aquas to Bayoon, but in doing so he left its magnetic field. The problem is, magnetosomes are highly finicky. They only work in Aquas' magnetic field. That was why, when the sea god moved Bayoon closer to Aquas and attempted to move his civilization there, the empire crumbled around him. He lost control of his Aquan slaves, who turned into mindless cannibals, and his empire fell into chaos. The sea god made it into Bayoon, but the empire crumbled beneath him, and he's lain dormant in the hollow moon ever since."

"And Andross is interested in this chemical because…?"

"Because he can control entire civilizations if he perfects it!" Vixy exclaimed. She clenched her fist. "He's maniacal, power-hungry, and egotistical! He made a deal with Gladys to help orchestrate all of these experiments if he gave them a place to hide and a cut of his power. I'm afraid if we don't stop him he may gain control of the entire Lylat, or unleash that ancient monster!"

Miyu reached across the gap between their couches and took Vixy's hand. "Don't worry; I can stop him. I just need to know _how_. Can you tell me?"

"I, I think so. I hate working for Andross. He's mad and disgusting, and I can't bear assisting in the labs when I know my work will be used for evil. So I set to finding a way, and I think I have a good idea how to defeat them both. It's too late for Badwash, sadly, but we can save the rest of Aquas. Yellow 60 lake is impotent on its own. If we kill that monster hibernating in the heart of Bayoon, we'll render the chemical as harmless as the food-coloring we disguise it as."

"But how will we get inside the center of Bayoon?"

"There's a series of warp rings on either side of Lagrange Rock," Vixy continued, leaning in. "A similar set was discovered in Meteo, which is leftover from Bayoon's excavation. One set will send you into Sidnalta—the underwater temple on Aquas. The other set will send you inside of Bayoon, to the floating city carved around the sea god."

"What exactly is this "sea god" you keep talking about?"

"Oh boy. He's a giant mollusk. A bivalve. I've been to the center of Bayoon before and seen him myself. It's where the remnants of the pirate fleet are all hiding out. Gladys has a veritable army orbiting the city built atop the monster's shell, you know. That's where we harvest all of the raw solution from. The problem is getting that shell open so we can attack the monster where it hurts: his fleshy interior. That shell isn't made from any materials or isotopes we've seen in the Lylat before; it seems unbreachable. But if you can fly a ship through the warp rings and into Bayoon's interior, you might have a shot at destroying him. And if that fails, I'll just have to kill him myself."

"How can you do that?"

"Andross trusts me. Too much. He's blinded by his infatuation. If I can get aboard Gladys' flagship again I may be able to destroy him. But I'll still need a distraction. Can you girls help me?"

"You can depend on us!" Fay exclaimed, pumping her fist before Miyu could answer.

"We'll get you aboard one of the remaining pirate fighters, then take the warp rings inside. Once there, we'll drop you off in Gladys' flagship… though I'm a bit scared of what we'll find inside the center of Bayoon. It… it sounds rather dangerous. We need a way of communicating with you, Vixy."

She thought for a moment. "I have a wrist unit; it can only make outgoing calls to certain numbers, but if I give you my number you can call me from wherever you are."

"Great, write it down for me," Miyu instructed. Then, thinking better of it, she waved her hand. "No, I should memorize it. Tell it to me."

"It's 1232-1653." Vixy repeated it several times for Miyu, who then repeated it back. She memorized it to the tune of "Jewel I See", which seemed to help.

"Look, I think I have a better idea," Miyu said. "It's much safer. Fay, if you can take Vixy aboard Gladys's flagship I'll stay here and search for the necklaces."

Fay snapped her fingers. "That's right! I bet Cira brought yours back here to give to Gladys."

"Gladys? Andross is the one with the first necklace."

"Ohhh," Miyu and Fay said at the same time. The lynx added, "That makes more sense. What does he look like?"

"He's a tall primate, white-haired, and usually wears a lab coat. Um… he'll be wearing a necklace?"

"Got it."

Miyu and Vixy jumped up from their seats. "Let's go!"

They ducked outside Vixy's cabin and proceeded down the hall. They took the same route past the radio studio, where they noticed Okarin nodding his head to some tune. He saw them passing and smiled, giving them a thumbs up. His pirate guard still lay in a bloody heap against the wall.

Things were looking up for them, but the paranoia Miyu caught in Badwash blared like an alarm siren. It was too easy. Things shouldn't be going this smoothly.

Her fears were confirmed when they rounded the corner to the final hall and ran straight into Cira. The catsuit-clad bounty huntress crouched in a fighting stance, drawing her blaster.

 _Shit!_ Miyu thought. Letting her instincts take over she tackled Cira to the ground.

"Run, now!" she spat through clenched teeth. "I'll find a way out!"

Fay rushed Vixy past the grappling felines, but she looked torn between escaping and helping Miyu. By the time Cira gained the upper hand they had already vanished. She climbed on top of Miyu, pinning her to the ground and lifting her blaster to aim it at her. But Miyu freed her leg and planted it squarely in Cira's gut. She knocked the wind out of her and sent her opponent sprawling back. Miyu swung her legs up and down, lifting herself to her feet in one fluid motion. She drew her own blaster, but Cira had already recovered. Several green energy bolts shot past her ear, forcing Miyu away.

She ducked behind the previous corner and sprinted off down the hall. She kept glancing back down the corridor to see if Cira was in pursuit, which she shortly was. The midnight-colored feline rounded the corner, but Miyu was ready. She fired off a pair of shots, driving Cira behind the cover of an open side door.

Miyu rounded the next corner and quickly glanced around for an exit. It seemed like Cira was forcing her deeper into the floating compound, which was a death sentence. Most of the doorways led into the crew's quarters or closets, but next to one reinforced door was an arrow with a sign that read _Observation Deck._

 _Bingo,_ Miyu thought. She burst through the two sets of double doors which acted as an airlock. To her surprise she emerged out into the open air, and a powerful, cold gust of wind violated her fur. The observation deck was a rounded balcony that overlooked the Pillar and Badwash hundreds of miles below. There was no roof on the deck, meaning she could look straight up and see Aquas' tranquil waters shimmering in the afternoon sun.

Though she had chided Fay for it earlier, now Miyu felt the fear of great heights overtaking her. Fortunately the station's artificial gravity extended to the deck as well, but one misplaced step across the side and she would be swimming in air, caught between Bayoon and Aquas forever.

Miyu hoped the doors would close behind her before Mamba saw them, but they didn't. The butt of a blaster smashed through the safety glass in one of the doors, only for its muzzle to poke through mere seconds later. Cira's golden eye peered at her through the window slit and she aimed the gun at Miyu.

The lynx felt trapped out on the open deck; she ran hard to the right, hoping to get out of the firing angle of Cira's blaster. Several shots whizzed behind her, one singeing the fur on her tail. Ultimately she made it safely out of Cira's viewing angle. She pressed herself flat against the natural rock wall of the asteroid, but then she had a daring idea.

She stepped out of the gravity field.

The return to zero gravity was disorienting; at one point, half of her body experienced weightlessness, while the other half felt heavy and grounded to the deck. Every little movement she made after that point carried massive repercussions. Each step or accidental bump risked flinging her slowly off into space. To counteract this, she holstered her blaster and clung to the asteroid with all four limbs. In this manner she scurried up the side of the asteroid's cliff until she hid behind the ridge above the exit door.

Subsiding her panicked breathing, she listened. Shortly afterward the hydraulics in the doors hissed, and some glass from the broken window tinkled when it hit the floor. As carefully as the door opened, it closed, and Black Mamba's boots clicked against the deck.

"Where are you?!" she barked.

Even though it gave away her position, Miyu spoke up.

"It doesn't have to be this way," she called over the side of the asteroid. "We don't have to kill one another to solve this."

"After how you betrayed me?"

Miyu's gut response was to accuse Cira of hypocrisy, but then she thought back to the events on Aquas.

"Where were you when Fay fell into their hands?" she pressed on with her accusations. "Nowhere. You left us alone, and in your absence unspeakable things almost happened to her. And after I saved her, what thanks do I get?"

"There are other ways to dissuade someone besides killing them," Miyu argued.

"I get pushed away. Exiled, from your sorry team."

"You killed them all with Fay right there! She was just a child. And if it wasn't for you, she might still be one."

"How can you expect her to continue mercenary work if she never harms anyone? If she never endures any pain? It's almost like you don't treat her as part of the team."

"That's because…" Miyu trailed off, grasping furiously for an argument. She hated to admit it, but Cira was right. "I guess deep down, I didn't want her on the team. I don't like seeing her get hurt, or having to compromise her innocence."

Cautiously, Miyu poked her head above the door, and Black Mamba turned to stare up at her. Both their blasters were lowered out of mutual respect.

"I thought, maybe if I gave her a taste of that lifestyle, she would realize she was in over that cute red bow of hers. But she never did. I think the world of her, Cira. She's my greatest friend. I love her."

Even from up on the ridge she could see the golden light in Cira's eyes and the glint of her teeth as she scowled.

"But, now I see that I can't protect Fay forever. I think you've helped me realize that. We both went too far, Cira. I forgive you for what you did to Fay—I don't blame you for those actions. And I hope you can forgive me for kicking you off the team without trying to understand your point of view. If you want, you can come back on. I-I know Fay would be glad to have you! Thousands of people have already died, but with your help we can defeat Andross and Gladys and save countless more."

The pantheress' head tilted down, and her eyes disappeared.

"I know you care about us," she continued. "If you didn't, you would have shot us both at those springs. But you held back. I don't care if you only spared me for Fay's sake. Honestly, I would spare you for the same reason; because Fay cares about you. And if _she_ likes you, well, I guess I'll have to, too."

At the mention of the springs, Cira's head lifted back up, exposing those narrow yellow orbs again.

"That was the second time you betrayed me," she growled. "Those men didn't violate Fay. I didn't take her innocence. _You_ did, when you… when you… when you fucked her in that spring!"

The feline's voice cracked as she nearly sobbed the last sentence out. Miyu was taken aback, having forgotten Cira saw them.

"How could you do that to Fay, or me? Can you imagine what it was like discovering my best friend and my worst enemy lying with each other, taunting me?"

In a quiet voice, Miyu broke in, "Cira, I-I'm sorry—"

"No, I'm glad I'm gone. It'll be easier living knowing that you're both dead! Do you really think I could endure being on a team where my best friend is in love with someone else? Do you think I could go on fighting beside you, as if everything was normal? She's much too young for that! You're just taking advantage of her naiveté to satisfy your sexual needs."

"Whoa, now hold on there. Are you contradicting yourself? I thought you said Fay had to grow up. Now which is it?"

The pantheress fumed and shook on the observatory deck, until she burst out, "I don't know! Just," she raised her blaster at Miyu, "just die!"

Before she could fire, one of the pirate fighters rose above the miniature horizon of the satellite. It was in bad shape, constantly leaking fuel, emitting smoke, and making loud rumbling noises. The fighter hovered above the observation deck and Miyu's position, training its laser cannons on them.

The lynx's wrist comm crackled. _"Miyu, get down!"_

"Fay?!"

Before either feline had time to react, the fighter shot a pair of twin bolts into the observation deck. The force from the explosion kicked both Cira—and unintentionally Miyu—into the air, along with rubble and floor tiles knocked loose by the impact. The cloud of debris shot upward, taking the girls with it.

Miyu's stomach dropped out from under her when she reoriented herself. She noticed Lagrange Rock growing progressively smaller as she continued to float upwards with the rubble and dust. Cira rose up as well, though she seemed disoriented or unconscious from the blast. As her arms and legs spread out limply, a shining object lifted free from her collar.

" _Oh no! Miyu!"_ Fay cried. The fighter began to rise towards her. _"Don't worry, I've got you!"_

A brilliant streak of red flew through the air, impacting the side of the fighter. A singed hole lay gaping in the side of the ship, which now disgorged sparks and smoke. _"I've been hit! The controls won't respond!"_ The force of the blast sent her ship spiraling away, floating down past Lagrange Rock to the emerald surface of Bayoon below.

Miyu's eyes searched for the source of the laser round, eventually identifying a security turret setup on the outside of the satellite, near the top. It realigned its barrel at Fay's hijacked fighter, only for its second shot to miss. It didn't matter; her ship was already plummeting to its doom.

Miyu turned around, realizing she herself was falling in the opposite direction—

Towards Aquas.

The turquoise disk already dwarfed the size of Bayoon. It was hard to tell from vision alone whether or not she was falling towards it, but the rest of the Pillar that stretched between Bayoon and Aquas was quickly approaching. The wall of clouds came nearer and nearer, until Miyu fell through it. Her fur was soaked once again, but this time she was moving faster than the balloon had.

Lost in the pillar of clouds, the horrifying reality finally sank in. She was falling hundreds of kilometers straight _down_.

 _Please be a dream!_ she told herself. _Wake up! Just hit the ground already! Die, die!_

She began flailing her arms helplessly. She felt her body accelerating downwards through the clouds until they essentially rained up at her. Miyu felt the absolute void of the open air on a visceral level, with nothing to grab onto or stop her descent for miles—except, of course, the ocean waves of Aquas. Right now it was just her, the vapor thin clouds, and the looming, monstrous force of the sapphire planet, pulling her in like a black hole. Part of her told herself she might survive if she landed in water—which 99% of Aquas' surface was. If she kept her legs together, she might only break every bone in her body, but still live. Even then, no matter how she met the surface, it would act like a solid wall of concrete when she hit with terminal velocity.

 _At least if I die I'll just…_ Miyu's eyes widened. She grasped at her neck, but only confirmed the necklace was missing. Cira had stolen it and given it to Andross.

 _Fuck!_

There was no getting out of this one. Her fate was to fall hundreds of kilometers down to Aquas before cratering like a meteorite in the middle of the ocean. Unless…

A burst of hope seized Miyu's heart, energizing her. What if Cira still had the necklace? She had seen something floating around her neck when they were knocked from the observation deck. That must've been it!

Miyu activated the infrared scanner on her wrist comm, checking in every direction. Some of the heated fragments of the deck were false positives, but eventually she identified a large splotch of thermal energy plummeting some hundred feet below her.

 _It's not over yet!_

Miyu oriented herself to face straight down. She flattened her arms against her sides and stuck her legs straight backwards, minimizing her surface area so she shot through the clouds like a bullet. She angled herself just enough so that she fell closer towards Cira's position, constantly checking her progress on her wrist unit.

Eventually a gray outline appeared through the fog, and Miyu gravitated towards it. When she fell close enough, she was able to make out Cira's unconscious form. The shining necklace blew wildly about in the wind.

When she reached Cira's limp body she set to work removing the necklace. It was no easy task; the air pushed up against them with a powerful, buffeting force. Each little movement the lynx made changed how fast she fell, or where she leaned. She had to use one hand to hold onto her opponent's belt, meaning she only had one free hand with which to steal the necklace.

She fumbled with the black cord, but at that moment Cira's eyes fluttered open. She panicked and kicked Miyu away, sending her downwards. Miyu fell faster than Cira, until she was between her and Aquas. Both felines reached for their weapons, but found they had dropped them after Fay's blast. Miyu swung around to face Cira, witnessing an expression of utter horror grip her face. The lynx couldn't help but feel an exhilarating rush; seeing the other girl be just as scared as she was brought her satisfaction, but also confirmed the gravity of her situation.

Acting quickly, she spread her arms and slowed her descent, allowing Mamba to catch up to her. Cira immediately grasped her predicament; they would both fall hundreds of miles to the ground, and whoever had the necklace would restart the day with their memories intact. Anticipating Miyu would go for the necklace, Cira balled it up and shoved it into her catsuit, then zipped the collar up.

When she reached Miyu, the lynx saw a flash from her claws extending, then a searing pain in her side as Cira plunged them in. She howled in protest, but struck her opponent in her undefended jaw. The blow caused the girls to separate, but they floated closer to each other again and continued to fight. Cira drew an onyx-colored tactical knife from her belt and tried to thrust it into Miyu's chest, but she caught Cira's arm and swung around it. Throwing honor and sportsmanship to the wind, she sank her teeth into Cira's wrist. She flinched, and after a few seconds of enduring the pain she relinquished the knife, which blew away.

They continued to grapple on their way down, spinning end-over-end towards their inevitable doom. It was a race against the clock for Cira to kill or evade Miyu, while the lynx had to steal the necklace in time. Either way, death was an inevitability. The question was how much they could accomplish before then.

While wrestling with the other feline Miyu felt a blunt object pressed into her rib cage. _The knife!_ She reached into her jacket and removed the scabbard, then unsheathed the ornamental blade. Chasme Baddoor had warned her about how dangerous it was—could she really bring herself to use it against Cira?

She didn't have a chance; in her moment of hesitation her opponent wrested the blade from her hand and turned it on her. Miyu blocked each of her swings with her forearms, but Cira had collected herself since her last attempt; she attacked much more viciously.

Then, in a blinding flash of light, they broke free from the clouds. Now only the void of empty atmosphere lay between them and the waters of Aquas below. Miyu was unfortunately facing the sun when they emerged, so the light blinded her. Cira took advantage of the moment and brought the blade down like an executioner's ax—

Into Miyu's right eye.

'Excruciating' didn't come close to defining Miyu's pain. The blade sliced right through her eyelid, cornea, and retina—so deeply that it severed the optic nerve at the rear of her eye. The right side of her vision went completely dark—darker than anything she had ever _not_ seen. Instinctively she jammed her eyelids closed and grasped at her eye, only to find the blade still protruding from it. Her anguished screams were lost to the wind, which blasted in their ears. But she told herself she had experienced worse, and if she persevered, the wounds would be healed. It was tempting to let herself die without the necklace, so she would have no memory of the pain at all. But she pressed on fighting Cira.

Before the other feline could, she wrenched the blade from her ruined ocular organ. Warm blood and pus spurted from the wound, trailing up like a meteor's tail as they fell. Grinding her teeth together, she managed to pry her left eye open and see Black Mamba again. When she had the pantheress in her sights, she jerked the blade across her neck, tearing through her latex collar.

Now it was Cira's turn to bleed; bright red plasma erupted from the gash in her neck, flowing upwards as they fell. Cira's eyes widened and her mouth opened, but no sound came out. If Miyu had to guess, it would have sounded like a wet, choking gurgle.

Freed from the catsuit, the ancient necklace floated into the open. Miyu had to act fast; Aquas' ocean was rushing up to meet them, and Cira's lifeblood was rapidly draining from her in a gory display. While the feline's eyes rolled back up into her head, Miyu tore the necklace up over her ears, then yanked it the rest of the way off. Sparing one last regretful look at Cira, she kicked free of her, and the two felines separated.

 _When she wakes up, everything will be alright. She won't even remember the pain, and I'll have another chance to make things right again._

Now giddy with jubilation, Miyu slipped the necklace over her own head. She released a massive breath, and relaxed. Nothing in the universe could stop her now—not mind-controlled Aquans, or pirates, or gore-hungry cultists—or even the entire force of Aquas itself.

She would endure.

Through her left undamaged eye she was able to make out faint patterns of waves in the water below. Each millisecond they rose closer and closer, as if trying to catch her.

During her last seconds alive, Miyu brought her wrist comm to her mouth. She called Fay, who was fortunately able to pick up. _Good:_ _she had survived the fall._ If Fay spoke even a single word, Miyu was unable to hear her. Instead she shouted Fay's name repeatedly into the unit, hoping she could listen.

As the waves raced up to meet her, she screamed, _I love you,_ but it was lost to the wind.


	13. Malocchio

_A/N_ _: No song this time. I wasn't really inspired and didn't want to force it. I'll be sure to make something epic for the final battle._

 **Chapter 13: Malocchio**

* * *

 _Miyu was prepared to die. She wouldn't even feel the exact moment she hit the water. And, if her last dreams were anything to go by, she would be thrown back into the fading memories of her childhood. She expected to see the same forest glen, the carpet of yellow leaves, and the hill on which she shared so many picnics with her sister. But what was left that Bayoon hadn't already taken from her? Her sister was gone. The only thing she would find in her past was a vacant hill surrounded by barren trees. An unmarked grave._

 _But something was different. Her reality was now dark. It was thick, and hard to move around in. And cold—deathly cold, seeping into every pore of her skin. Bubbles trailed off her fur and escaped her mouth when she tried breathing. She could feel the pressure of fathoms of water pressing down on her, threatening to crush her in a pitch black coffin._

 _Then a small light blinked on in front of her, no bigger than her palm. It was a small yellow eye, floating lazily in the flooded void. Its black pupil turned to stare at her, and Miyu stared back. It was harmless—cute even—as it studied her._

 _Then another opened, on her left this time. And another, and another. More and more eyes blinked open at an exponential rate until they formed a crescent wall bent away from her. They lit the sunken room she was in until she could make out decaying, algae-covered towers, columns, and ruins surrounding them._

 _Once they had all revealed themselves the wall of eyes began shifting towards her. As they drew nearer the eyes separated into two partitions—a top crescent and a bottom crescent. The top half rose up and away from Miyu, revealing a dark, empty cavern between the two jaw shapes. It was massive—large enough to swallow Lagrange Rock whole, it felt like._

 _Then, within the newly formed space, two lids lazily blinked open. They revealed a massive, fluorescent-yellow eye the size of a house. It was so large in comparison to Miyu that she could make out every minuscule detail inside its translucent lens, from the multitude of different color pigments to every ridge, crevice, and cave created by the folded muscles in its iris. Just as each of the thousands of smaller eyes had done, the large globe rotated to look at Miyu, blinking open and closed several times. Even just the movements of its lids were enough to disturb the water and create small currents._

 _Miyu felt the icy fingers of fear clutching her heart. The more she stared at the amber-glowing eye, the more she felt hypnotized by it—like a snake charming its prey. The eye loomed closer and closer until it filled up the entirety of her world. Miyu wanted to move, but she was paralyzed; her movements constricted and sluggish, as if in a nightmare._

 _Realization dawned on her. This was the monster Vixy had described to her. The ancient sea god alien to the Lylat System, which came to enslave its inhabitants._

Bacon _, Miyu thought to herself._ Or was it Bacoon?

 _In a flash the eye rushed towards her, and Miyu felt herself speeding into the pit of its black iris. The water she was submerged in fell away, splashing into the void behind her. Her movement was no longer constricted, and she could breathe in what smelled like stale air. Behind her lay darkness and frothing waves. Ahead lay a bright light, illuminating the shining edges of a tunnel._

 _Before her stood three figures—they were short and squat, but dressed in graceful ceremonial robes that bellied the rest of their appearance. Each of their leathery hides was a different color: topaz, white, and a cool, dark hue that Miyu couldn't identify. Their eyes were milky and frosted over, as if blind. They spoke to Miyu in an ancient dialect of which Miyu didn't recognize a word, but somehow she understood their meaning. They talked in unison, creating a harmony with their voices._

" _You have come far, Daughter of the Moon. Your persistent efforts are about to bear fruit. The Enslaver has awoken. If you do not stop him, he will move on with his ritual and transform Bayoon into a vessel with which to traverse Lylat. Planet after planet, our System will fall to his control, until no one can stand against him. This is not merely_ our _problem. He is a threat to Aquans and off-worlders alike._

" _Years ago when our people were enslaved we managed to create in secret powerful tools with which to thwart the Sea God."_ _The lead Aquan stepped forward and lay a slimy hand on Miyu's necklace._

" _You carry one now, Moon Daughter. With it, you must finish what we started centuries and centuries ago. When the Sea God ascended from Aquas to Bayoon, we struck. We managed to blind him, separating him from his empire and interrupting his plan. To preserve himself and wait for the recovery of life on Aquas, Bacoon descended into a deep slumber._

" _But now, off-worlders have invaded Bayoon and prodded into the ancient legends. Foreigners wish to use the Sea God to further their own power. They do not know Bacoon is a jealous god and tolerates being second to none. Now only another off-worlder such as yourself may blind the Sea God and rid the Lylat of him forever._

" _Be warned, for he senses who you are. He knows the threat you pose to his rule. Even now he has planted the seeds of his control inside of you. Slowly, you will lose control. You must not lose sight of what is real and what is vision. Take what you can from dreams, but never mistake them for reality."_

 _The three Aquans parted—the blue one stepping to the left, the other pair to the right. Miyu felt herself accelerate forward until the walls of the tunnel flashed by. She flew toward the bright light at the end, now able to make out branches and leaves blowing on the other side. She could even hear their rustling, accompanied by whistling wind and wild bird calls. Then, in a brilliant flash—_

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

Blood and pus sprayed from Miyu's right eye. She woke up screaming and clutching at her face, eyes clenched shut to minimize the pain.

"Fuh… Aaaah!"

What had happened? The necklace was supposed to heal her! Did she miraculously survive the fall?

In a few seconds she recognized her familiar surroundings. Sure enough she was back in her cockpit as usual. It had become status quo on Bayoon. So why wasn't she healed?

Then she heard metal clanks on the top of her interceptor. Moving shadows blocked out the sun. The screech of nails upon chalkboard as some device was set against glass.

Clenching her teeth, Miyu raised her head and pried her good eye open, still covering her right eye with bloodied paws. The sunlight jabbed like a dagger into her sensitive pupil. She was utterly confused by what she saw: Borro the pangolin, leader of the local pirates, and several of his henchman had climbed onto her fighter. They had planted some sort of large tool on her ship's canopy, but it was difficult to make out through the red and white ocular matter sprayed against the inside of the glass. It looked like a box with grav grips on each side, thus affixing it to her windshield. A metal spike lay nestled inside the cube, the point of which had already scraped up the glass. Protruding from the opposite side was a sort of rod with a flat circular platform at the end, almost like the high striker game she saw at the carnival. And from the way Borro carried a ridiculously-sized mallet in his hands, that was exactly the way they intended to use it.

"What the—"

Flexing his arms, Borro lifted the hammer over his shoulders before bringing it crashing down on the target piece. The spike shot forward, striking the glass. To Miyu's horror a giant spiderweb of cracks appeared in the canopy, centering around where the spike had struck. While Borro readied for another go the two other pirates twisted a pair of levers on either side of the box, raising the target rod back up.

They were trying to break into her ship!

Where was Fay? Why were they already surrounded by pirates? Didn't Andross know he couldn't stage an early strike like this without accidentally killing her?

Borro swung the hammer down a second time, and the spike actually penetrated her canopy a few inches. A sprinkle of glass shards rained down into her cockpit, driving home the urgency of the situation. To make matters worse, that goddamn song continued to merrily sing over the radio, each line punctuated by her enemies' veritable piledriver.

"… _sorry Miss Moon  
_ _I have to run away  
_ _Daylight's coming soon  
_ _So I can't stay,"_

Faster than Miyu could react Borro swung the hammer a third time, and the spike burst into her cockpit. Now that it reached halfway between the glass and where Miyu sat, she realized it was dangerously aimed at her torso, threatening to gore her stomach if it continued.

"' _Cause you're the only  
_ _Jewel I see  
_ _Dancing 'round the clouds  
_ _It's only you and me,"_

Miyu set to work unfastening her harness, but her hands were slippery from the fluids seeping out from her wounded eye. She couldn't firmly grasp the straps without her paws slipping.

Borro struck the device a fourth time, and the spike descended until it pressed in against Miyu's stomach—in fact, she had to suck in her gut to avoid any discomfort. She was firing on all cylinders now, having engaged full-on panic mode. She tried reaching for the lever to pop her canopy open—or even the emergency ejector, both of which would have sent the pirates flying—but the spiked end of the tool kept her pinned in her seat.

" _Yeah you're the only jewel I see  
_ _Spinning 'round the clouds  
_ _It's where I wanna be,"_

This was the end; one more blow would widen the gaping hole in her canopy, allowing the pirates inside while at the same time skewering Miyu to her seat. The pirates could easily impale her and steal the necklace while she bled out—she'd heard of horrific tortures where victims survived such impalings. Maybe it would be best to kill herself now and reset before they could take the necklace.

As Borro reared the hammer above his head for the final blow, Miyu drew her blaster and placed it to her temple. She closed her eye and tightened her finger on the trigger, feeling the harsh, icy muzzle press against her skill. A faint voice whispered in the back of her mind, and at the last second she checked to make sure the necklace was still around her throat.

But it wasn't.

Eye widening in terror, Miyu patted herself down, but only confirmed it wasn't on her person anymore. _No! Where is it?! I swear I put it on! It's how I survived! Fuck, why?!_

"' _Cause you're the only jewel I see,  
Jewel I see."_

Borro swung the hammer down, but at the same time a red bolt of energy struck his head from behind, blowing the rear half of his skull off. His final swing only glanced off the target, saving Miyu from being skewered, but the spike still extended further and pressed into her gut, albeit without breaking the skin. While Miyu coughed from the pressure, the two pirates on either side of Borro's toppling corpse looked over their shoulders. They drew their own weapons and returned fire at some unseen target. Another blast knocked one of the pirates from her ship, and the remaining one dove off of his own accord. Several more volleys spat back and forth before all was quiet.

Then a group of new shadows climbed onto Miyu's fighter. The lynx recognized them immediately.

"Awright, let's get this bloody siege weapon off the poor gal!" said wilderness reality TV star Stephen Gills, who she hadn't seen since her first day in Badwash. As the muscular bear rolled up his sleeves he was joined by another figure: a green parrot she knew as Simon. For once he set aside his field camera to help Stephen, using his wings to deactivate the grav grips and hoist the spike from her cockpit. With the pressure released from her stomach Miyu was free to move around and breathe deeply. Still clutching her eye to ease the searing pain, she popped her canopy and stood.

Her left eye was teared up and blurry, so she had trouble keeping her balance. The extreme pain also made her lightheaded, so she nearly slipped when she set foot onto the nose of her interceptor.

"Blood hell Miyu, you look like piss!"

Stephen's soft, powerful arms scooped her up to carry her princess-style.

"Screw off! I'll be fine!"

"Listen here Jane, you're in a bloody awful condition to be movin' around. Best let me carry ya." And he winked down at her.

Giving up on that front, Miyu scanned the wharf with her one good eye, but everything was made blurry by the tears. She saw the busted canopy of her ship, Fay's interceptor covered in several new bullet holes, and a swarm of forest rangers milling about on the pier. But within the crowd she couldn't locate one particular red bow and downy white coat.

"Where's Fay?!" Miyu asked urgently.

"Easy now, we'll get you fixed up right quick as a flash. Just hold on till we get you to the hospital, 'kay?"

"Is Fay alright?!" she persisted. But mere seconds later she succumbed to the immense pain and dizziness. Black oil seeped across her vision like a curtain closing, shutting out the world.

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

When Miyu came back, she was only half there.

Everything in the hospital room was painted picket-fence white, the daylight outside casting cool blue shadows into the room. The waving curtains glowed with golden light, and between their partitions Miyu could see equally white sails lazily swaying in the breeze—a forest of pearly masts, some crowned with cherry red flags. It had all the earmarks of a perfect, lazy morning.

Except for the layer of darkness covering everything.

It was always half there and half not, as if she were looking through a retro pair of 3D glasses. While she could see through her left eye, her brain kept trying to create a 3D image using the null response from her right. She could no longer see depth, and her field of vision was halved and pushed off-center. In fact, everywhere she looked seemed unbalanced.

As her left eye slowly adjusted to the light, she felt a variety of sensations. The first was a soreness—both in her missing eye and in her thigh for some reason. She hadn't recalled wounding it. But at least the excruciating pain had dissipated.

A splotch of white shifted next to her bed, and Miyu focused on it. She could tell from the unmistakable bow who was sitting at her bedside.

"You okay, Fay?"

The spaniel rolled her eyes. "Will you ever learn to care about yourself?"

"But I do care about myself," Miyu grinned sheepishly. "More than you realize. After all, what I want most is for you to be fine. You're contagious when you're happy. I'm hopping to catch some of that second-hand."

"Well, if you insist. I'm a bit frightened and confused, but at the same time I feel relaxed. You're safe here. We both are."

Miyu released a pent-up sigh, slowly sinking back down in bed. "Good…" She closed her eye and let the cool sea breeze feather her cheek.

"Fay… what did they do with my eye?"

The canine tensed. "Oh, they took care of you. You're going to be fine! You look fine, too."

"Can I have a mirror?"

Fay's eyes narrowed. "Just trust me on this, you look really cool!"

"Mirror, Fay."

Caught between keeping her in the dark and pampering a wounded friend, Fay gave in and passed over the hand mirror. Miyu raised it to her face, staring at herself in the reflection. All the blood and… other fluids had been washed from her fur. But what she focused on was the black eyepatch covering her right eye socket. A crust hiding a hollow core within.

"Ah."

"Ah? That's it?"

"Yeah."

"I'm just happy you're alive," Fay whispered. "I don't care how banged up you come out of that as long as my friend's okay. And really, I think you look cool! Badass! The patch does suit you. A-and I bet my uncle could get you one of those cybernetic eyes if you wanted. I'd just have to butter him up first."

Miyu studied herself in the mirror more. In a way, Fay was right. She did like how the patch made her look more ferocious—almost like the other pirates hiding in Bayoon, minus the strap circling their heads. But at the same time, she didn't feel comfortable knowing people would always be uneasy around her. What must Fay feel looking at her? Was she scared? Unnerved? How could she ever make her see her soft side when she looked like this?

"You're right," she lied, letting the mirror drop to the bed. "I do look fucking badass. But why does my leg hurt?"

"Oh, that." Fay rubbed her paws anxiously. "The details made me squeamish when they first explained it to me, but when they… removed your eye, they had to take tissue and muscle from somewhere else to cover up the back of your socket. I'm sorry, I get sick just talking about it."

"Never change, Fay," Miyu smiled at her.

Fay shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "So, maybe you can explain something to me. Why were those pirates lying in wait for us?"

"It's a long story," Miyu sighed. "You see Fay, I've lived this day before. This will be my fifth time landing in Badwash. Each time I end up dying to the pirates, and each time the day restarts and I wake back up when we land."

Fay blinked. "Come again?"

"You don't have memories of it. Everyone's memories reset. In fact, the entire universe resets except for me, and this evil scientist dude, who's on a floating rock between Bayoon and Aquas, and he's using a giant extrasolar clam to mind-control the Aquans through magnetic yellow food coloring to one day take over the entire Lylat—"

Miyu tried to keep a straight face while saying it, but towards the end she kept sniffling until she burst out laughing along with Fay. The two kept laughing until tears leapt to their eyes, and they slowly caught their breaths.

"Oh my god Miyu, that's so ridiculous! Did you dream that while you were sedated?"

Drying her eyes with the hospital blanket, Miyu shook her head. "Nope. It's all horrifyingly real. But I knew you would doubt me, so I had you tell me a secret that _only_ you and nobody else knows. A couple tries ago, you told me to say, "Hey there princess, need a hand?""

Fay had a skeptical expression on her face, her cheeks puffed slightly and her lips puckered as she frowned at Miyu, but upon hearing the phrase that doubtful expression melted. "Okay, that's a little creepy. How'd you know those words mean so much to me?"

"Because James McCloud said them when he rescued you. It's what inspired you to become a mercenary and hook up with me. Right?"

Fay's eyes widened. "Exactly right." She shivered involuntarily.

"Still, something's different this time. Normally whenever I'm killed my wounds are healed. Eaten by a monster? Bite marks gone. Gutted in a sacrificial ceremony? Intestines replaced. Crater into Aquas? No bones broken. But for some reason my eye hasn't healed. Cira stabbed it with the ceremonial knife, so maybe…" Miyu slowly realized the problem. Chasme had explained to her the dagger's function; the shrine maidens had crafted it to counteract the immortality granted by the necklaces. Any wound it inflicted was permanent. Miyu was lucky Cira hadn't killed her that time. But that meant even if she died and reset again, her eye would still be damaged. No matter what she did, she wasn't getting her eye back. The thought of it made her heart sink.

"There's just one more thing," Miyu pressed on. "Why did Stephen and Simon and the rangers all show up to save us? They should've been eating breakfast somewhere. And where's my necklace?!"

"Sorry, I have it," said a deep but gentle voice from the doorway. Miyu looked up to see the broad form of Simon the kakapo, Stephen's cameraman. He was dangling Miyu's necklace from his wing, and entered along with Stephen and a walrus who Miyu vaguely remembered as Officer Mackerel. He wore the same khaki uniform as the other forest rangers, but a set of bars on his shoulders distinguished him as their superior.

"Si!" Miyu exclaimed. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

The parrot sheepishly stepped forward and handed Miyu the necklace, as if ashamed to have kept it. He continued talking in his usual utilitarian manner. "You found me filming Stephen eating breakfast. You stumbled in bleeding and full of bullets. Mentioned a giant clam called "Bacon". You predicted we're filming _Bayoon Bushcraft: Season 2._ Very confidential. Then you say to come save you at docks. Said it was the only way you wouldn't lose "her" each time. Then you put necklace on me and shoot me." Simon shrugged. "Wasn't pleased at first, but then I saw you spoke the truth."

Of course Miyu would trust Simon over Stephen: he was much more resourceful and nowhere near as hammy. Simon had been much more of a help while forging through the wilderness during her first day in Badwash.

Stephen threw a beefy arm around the parrot's shoulder. "I hadn't the foggiest notion what Simon was yubbin' on about, but I knew I could trust me mate. So we rounded up the rangers and rushed to the docks. Sure as rain, we saw your two tinnies under attack from pirates, so we taught those wankers a lesson! Saved your gal friend just in time, too. Couldn't for the life of us figure out what pureed your eye like that…"

Simon elbowed him and cast a dirty look his way.

It was starting to make sense to Miyu. "Andross must've sent the pirates to attack as soon as possible and steal the necklace. I guess I fended them off but lost Fay last time. Since there was no way I could save both of us by myself, I had to get your help. So I gave you the necklace and killed—er, _reset_ you, but of course _I_ wouldn't remember any of it. Oh."

Officer Mackerel, who had silently been judging them the entire time, crossed his flippers. "Now, if you don't mind young lady, it's _your_ turn to extricate what has perspired here."

"Yeah, what's this about a giant clam named Bacon?" Fay piped in.

Miyu wrinkled her nose. "He's called _Bacoon,_ ya doofas. That's also a long story, but I'll try to lay it out for you."

Fay, Simon, Stephen, and Officer Mackerel all gathered around Miyu's bed to listen. She did her best to explain the situation without confusing them or stoking their disbelief too much. She went over everything: Andross' research into Bacoon, his hibernation in the satellite's heart, how he controlled the population through the yellow chemical, and the pirate takeover of Mulaboo Marsh, Lagrange Rock, and the research station at the top of the mountain.

Miyu concluded with, "We need a plan to defeat them all: Bacoon, Andross, and the pirates."

"And I presuppose _you_ have one?" Mackerel asked incredulously.

"I've got some ideas. I have a sort of sleeper-agent in Andross's ranks. She'll help us get into Bayoon's core and defeat the monster once we get inside. But we'll need an army to do it. The pirates are there as well."

"We can call in the Aquan Provisionals, perhaps the CDF." Stephen scratched his head. "But they aren't likely to believe us."

"I think we have someone who they'll believe." Miyu winked knowingly at Fay. "But they might not get here in time. We need to move _now,_ in the meantime. Are there any space-worthy ships in the Badwash area?"

"Some of Badwash's finest veterinarians are excellent fighter pilots," Mackerel stroked his chin. "Many of them still have ships. They may be past their prime, but I'd trust them to fight by my side through fickle and fin."

Miyu cringed a little. "Good. I can help recruit them. You should have your rangers round up what's left of the pirates in Mulaboo Marsh. They're hiding out at Creeper's Rock. And prohibit everyone at the carnival from eating _anything_ with yellow food coloring! For some people it's already too late, but as long as we defeat Bacoon by eclipse they'll be alright."

"Hmm. Don't like taking orders from an off-worlder, but in the name of insurgency I will comply." The walrus saluted before about-facing and exiting the room.

Fay looked at Miyu and mouthed, _Insurgency?_

"I think he meant 'urgency.'" Then, turning to Stephen, "What happened to the _Sveno_ and the _Meduza?"_

"Let's just say your ship underwent surgery the same time you did. Si told me you'd want to get right back in the cockpit and take the piss out of that monster. An' you only with one eye!"

"You mean you're repairing my ship?"

"Right on. Just hafta replace the canopy. It'll be done within the hour, and you can pick it up in the shipyard at the west end of the wharf. Wish I could come wit ya to give it to that big ol' clam thing, but I ain't never learned ta fly. Naw, I'll stick to the ground any day. Where I can wrestle boa constrictors!"

Fay got a dreamy look on her face while Miyu just shook her head. "We better get going. Bayoon's not gonna save itself!"

"Ah, good point. D'ya need any help finding those vets? Need me to carry you somewhere? You're probably a little out of it."

Miyu blushed inwardly as she remembered Stephen carrying her in his big, fuzzy arms. "No thanks, I think Fay can help me. But can I borrow your jeep?"

"Sure thing, mate." Stephen scooped the keys out of his pocket and tossed them into Miyu's waiting hands. Without depth perception, Miyu awkwardly missed. "But how did you know I had a je—ohhh, right." He tapped his head. "Well, we'll be seeing ya. Good luck!"

"Thank's so much you two!" Miyu called before they disappeared out the door. When they were gone she shook her head. "You know, I didn't understand until now just what everyone else feels like. You know, having someone tell you you don't remember a day happening but proving to you again and again it did. It's so hard to believe I managed to contact Stephen and Si before dying, and sent them back to save us. But here we are. The tables really turned, haven't they? Now I don't blame you for all the times in the past when you doubted everything I said."

"Aww, I should _never_ doubt anything you say!"

Miyu swung her legs over the side of the bed and only then became conscious that she was wearing but a hospital gown over her undergarments. Fay quickly handed Miyu her clothes and helped her dress before supporting her down the steps to the first floor of the hospital. The nurses had a hard time releasing them, but Miyu's blaster was able to talk them into it.

Once outside they were hit with the full force of the sea breeze. The cool air cycling in from Bayoon's great lake did wonders to counteract the muggy climate descending from Aquas. The gentle gusts of wind cooled Miyu off and helped her relax. Right now they stood in the shade of the hospital's porch that jutted out above said lake. Miyu let go of Fay and leaned on the railing for support, gazing out over the pristine sailboats that drifted back and forth in place. The wood beneath her arms was weathered and soft, the original gray boards showing through the white paint.

"I need this, Fay," Miyu explained. "I need a moment to catch my breath. It's so peaceful here, with you. Gives me time to recover. Before… giving it another go for the hundredth time. I'm just afraid that I'll fail and have to start again. But at the same time, I feel this confidence. I know what I have to do, and half of my fear was coming from the unknown. Nothing made sense until I met Vixy and learned everything from her. That fear of the unknown is just… gone. All that's left to do is act. I still don't know what to expect once we get inside of Bayoon, but I have a feeling, whatever it is, we'll get through it."

"Yeah, I know that feeling." Fay's sigh was unbearably cute.

Miyu frowned. "Wait, you do?"

Fay pushed her aside. "No silly, I have no idea what you're talking about! But I believe you."

The lynx returned to staring out over the harbor. When she first stepped outside with Fay, everything was initially too bright. But over time her eye adjusted to the sunlight and her vision cleared, allowing her to study the docks more thoroughly. She loved the way light from the shifting waters reflected on the underside of the boardwalk, dancing like miniature northern lights. Strange. There seemed to be a glass orb warping the light on the underside of one of the docks, but she could only tell that from the slightly darker and strangely-bent pattern in the reflected light.

"Miyu? W-what are you doing?"

The feline had slowly drawn her blaster and taken aim. She fired, and a shower of orange sparks erupted from the air where the sphere should have been. Smoke began to trail from the area, and an orb-shaped drone flashed in and out of sight. Miyu tracked it with her blaster, firing upon it as it tried to float away. Her last shot struck the drone full-on, and it fell to the wooden dock, splitting open. The eyeball-like surveillance drone lay smoking in a smoldering heap.

Miyu holstered her blaster. "Now that we're not on some sick pirate reality show, there's something I've been waiting to do all morning."

"How in the world did you know that was—"

But Miyu caught Fay in her arms and kissed her.

She continued to hold the embrace for several seconds, enjoying the freedom and release it brought, but then she noticed something. Fay wasn't returning the gesture. She held onto Miyu with her arms to keep from falling, but she never kissed or hugged back.

Miyu pulled away, searching Fay's eyes. There wasn't any sign of love or longing or contentment in them. No recognition. Only surprise and shock and confusion. The girl couldn't move. She didn't know how to react.

The lynx's heart sank. Why did only scars carry over from each life? Somehow losing Fay was worse than losing her eye. Of all the misfortunes that happened to her that day, this pained her the most. Fay didn't love her; not the way she wanted. They had returned to just being teammates and friends. It looked like the heavens would only perfectly align once for her.

She let go of Fay and looked down between her feet, ashamed. She turned her back and slunk down the porch.

"Call your uncle," she instructed. "Mention Andross and Vixy. He'll have to come."

"Miyu?! What's the ma—"

"Call him!"

She could barely hold back the tears. She stopped far enough away from Fay so that she was out of earshot, and sniffed a bit. She closed her eyes and let the tune of the song come back to her.

' _Cause you're the only jewel I see…_

 _1232-1653._

When she remembered the number she dialed it into her comm unit and raised her wrist to her mouth. She stared at the reflection of the Pillar in the lake, as if she could catch a glimpse of Lagrange Rock in its waves.

" _Um, who is this please?"_

"No one you know, but you can call me Miyu."

" _He_ _llo Miyu, I guess? I'm—"_

"Vixy Reinard, I know. You're probably wondering how I got your number."

There was silence on the other end.

" _Yes. This is a secure line, but I don't care how you got access to it. I'm being held prisoner, and I desperately need your help!"_

"Actually," Miyu grinned, "I need yours."

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

The drive to the docks at Mulaboo Marsh was an awkward one. Miyu took the wheel and drove from memory, while Fay sat in the passenger seat. They were mostly silent all the way there, with neither girl daring to speak after what happened earlier. Miyu couldn't believe she had messed things up with Fay so soon, but perhaps the spaniel would chalk it up to her harrowing day.

When they arrived at the wharf they found the rangers had already departed to hunt down the pirates—this time more prepared and with larger forces. Some families and their cars still occupied the parking lot, but the only sizeable group was the army of Aquans preparing to leave on a fishing expedition. Frogs, toads, salamanders, and a few other species made up their ranks. The closer Miyu walked towards them the more features she was able to see. Now it struck home just how old and decrepit they were. But they were the only ones who knew how to fly and possessed ships, so they'd have to do.

Fay waited several steps behind Miyu, not knowing what she had in mind and reluctant to get involved. She rubbed her paws together and shrank back. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Miyu, on the other hand, confidently strolled up to the veterans and planted her feet on the wooden deck. She cleared her throat.

"Ahem!"

Slowly, the Aquans realized they had a visitor, and put aside whatever they were doing to turn and look.

"Is this all your life has become?" she called in a voice loud enough for all to hear. "Fishing? _Fishing?_ You used to do so much more, didn't you?"

Amos Fletcher, the red-skinned goliath frog, studied her suspiciously. "Youse been out in the sun too long?"

"What if I told you you could relive your glory days? Take to the skies once again? Well I'm telling you now. Bayoon needs your help. Pirates have infested your god-given land once again. They've come to pillage your crops and run off with your women folk. They've come to skin your children alive!" Miyu felt corny for uttering those phrases, but it seemed like the best way to reach them.

" _Pirates_ now?" Amos scratched the stubble on his neck. "Yes'm, I remember them. Boy we gave 'em a sound whoopin'! We beat 'em so hard they weren't able to sit in their little cockpits for weeks. Had ta stand up while flyin', heh heh."

"Hol' up now, Amerss," Roy, the green-speckled Pac-Man frog began. "Why should we lift a fanger to help this here _fe-line off-worlder_ battle some pirates? I remember fightin' at the Battle o' Gambogee Hill, and my father Diomedes Witherspoon fought and bled at the Skirmish of Saffron Sound, and I knows you can't trust those slit-eyed cats far'er than you kin throw 'em."

Miyu slapped a paw over her face. _Oh fuck, not again._ The temptation to shoot herself in the head was stronger than it ever was before.

The pink salamander lifted a webbed claw. "Wait just a trout-fishin' minute Roy. You can't ignore that I fought at Gambogee too. And my pop Euripides Calhoun fought by the side of Master Gunnery Sergeant Dengue at the Carnage of Canary Canyon, and neither of us could find anyun more loyal 'an the felines. Why they'd bleed out over the grass before they'd let you take a bullet."

Just as the pufferfish-like rain frog at the back of the group was drawing in a breath, Miyu interjected. "You're not listening to me! We don't have time for this. We need to act _now_."

"I think _you_ need to learn some respect for your elders, chile!"

"Yeah, shouldn't you be in school where ya get taught some manners?"

Amos crossed his arms and chewed on a sprig of hay. "If you ask me, you 'n that Corneria bitch are up to no good. Trying to ster up mischief and destract us from fishin'. Yer kind don't even belong on Bay-yoon."

At this point Miyu started tearing up in her left eye. She looked down at the ground to hide it at first, but she couldn't stand it. She had enough of these goddamn frogs. They were old and stubborn and bigoted and blind and judgmental and every other word she could think of. She hated to admit it, but she needed their help. They were the only capable allies she had.

Miyu's head snapped back up, and she stared them down with a tear-stained eye. "Don't you see I'm trying to help?!" she cried. "I came here to get a worthless set of jewelry for a paycheck, but now I'm staying to save your people, your friends and _families_ , from certain death. And all you care about is living your peaceful lives and keeping to yourselves and goddamn fishing! You have no idea how hard I've tried to save you all, repeatedly, and _this_ is the thanks I get? If I had any sense, I would get in my ship and leave you selfish geezers here to rot and die!"

She sniffed and wiped her nose, using the moment to compose herself.

"But I'm not going to. I'm going to stay. I'm going to keep risking my life over and over again if I have to until every last person here is saved. No matter how stubborn you people are, no matter how xenophobic and stuck up and prudish, you're still people. I've seen your good side too; others have shown me how kind and welcoming you can be. You may hate my guts because I'm from another planet and I'm a different species, and I 100% hate yours too, but that doesn't mean I just let you all die. I just wish you would stop being wrinkled dicks about it and _help_ me save Badwash, but for some silly reason you're just making this more difficult!"

Finally she could speak no more and collapsed into tears, choking on the rock-like constriction in her throat. The Aquans just stared on in awkward silence, rather ashamed.

Then Miyu heard gravel crunching beside her, followed by Fay's shouting voice.

"Who do you all think you are?! Where do you get off ignoring _her_ legacy? _The_ Miyu Tsukikage?" She balled her fists on her hips and glared at them in turn. "I'll have you know she was a soldier in the Katinese Provisional forces that volunteered to save your home from the pirates, only all she's gotten as thanks are dirty looks and racial epithets and xenophobia! Did anyone trust her? No. Did she get a medal for losing her eye at the Battle of Gambogee Hill? No. She was forgotten and ignored like the rest of the Katinese. And her father Hideaki Tsukikage fought at the Battle of Aspen Wood, and _his_ father Makoto Tsukikage fought at the Battle of Golden Glen! Were any of them remembered or given the honor they deserved? You guessed it. Not one iota! Frankly, I'm ashamed of you all."

During her barrage, Miyu quit crying and looked up at Fay, taken aback.

The camo-wearing toad stepped in. "You look a bit young to have fought at Gambogee with the rest of us. Can't be ol'er 'an 18 er 19."

The pink salamander elbowed him. "Now Judas, remember the Katinese are good at concealing their age. She's probably at least seventy under all that makeup and fur dye. You committed one o' them newfangled micro 'ggressions the lady at the vegetarian cafe keeps warning' us 'bout."

Judas nodded. "Oh garsh, how clumsy of me! So sorry to assume, ma'am."

Miyu opened her mouth to rip into the duo, but since it ultimately worked in her favor she let it slide.

Amos pushed through the ranks of other frogs until he stood directly in front of Miyu. He looked to be tearing up as well. He extended his webbed hand and gave Miyu a firm shake. "I'm a sorry to have doubted you, little miss Tsukikage! It jerks on my heart strings knowin' you din' get the recognition us other-un's got. But we'll fix that, won't we boys?" He turned to face the rest of the Aquans. "Ah say we fire up our ships again and fly once more! The skahs will once again know the true meaning of righteous fury. We, the Badwash Brigade will fly again! Now who's with me?!"

As one, the Aquans bellowed and croaked their affirmation. Miyu couldn't help but smile and shed a tear at the sight.

Amos turned to looked back at Miyu. "Alrighty miss. Where do ya need us?"

Miyu finally managed to swallow the rock in her throat. "Go home and prep your ships. Fly them to the fields east of Badwash Harbor, and we'll meet you there with some others. You guys… you guys make me proud!"

Amos grinned and tipped his hat in respect, then rushed off with the others to drive back home.

Miyu and Fay started walking back to Stephen's jeep. The lynx noticed a bounce in the spaniel's step, and a cheerful hum coming from her nose. She felt warm inside. That meant Fay had forgiven her for her rash actions earlier that morning.

"Hey, Fay?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks for that. It was sure corny, but you understood what means the most to them, and I admire how you got inside their heads like that. You know, that was pretty smart of you."

Fay placed a paw over her mouth and giggled, the red bow on her head bobbing up and down. "Well, I must admit I was surprised when it worked."

When they got in the jeep and drove back onto the dirt road in the direction of town, Fay asked, "What's next from here? Pick up your ship?"

"They should have the glass replaced now. But there's one more item I need to pick up before we rendezvous with the Geezer Brigade."

"Oh? And what's that?"

Miyu licked her lips. "Ice cream."

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

Vixy stepped out of the corridor and into Lagrange Rock's hangar bay. The wide open gate provided a scenic view: the twin horizons of both Aquas and Bayoon, and a mass of clouds between them. She walked past a yellow 'wet floor' stand, where a pirate on cleanup duty was mopping the steel floor. He whistled as she passed, and for once Vixy was thankful she wasn't blessed with the Gift as other Cerinians were, or she'd run the risk of peering into his thoughts.

Behind the unwilling janitor rested Black Mamba's interceptor: a graceful Katinese ship called the _Evryali,_ painted black with purple and gold accents much like the outfits the girl wore. She was the bounty hunter Andross had hired to steal the Aquan artifacts. As soon as the feline landed in the hangar and dismounted her ship, her throat had erupted in a spray of blood—as if a phantom knife had sliced it open right before their eyes. The doctors rushed her to the med bay on Gladys' ship, which was located inside Bayoon and was now Vixy's current destination. The pirate on cleanup detail was mopping up the bloody mess she left behind right now.

As far as Vixy had heard, the wound sliced through the pantheress' jugular and even her vocal folds—odds were the girl would never be able to speak again. She had nearly bled out right then and there on the cold hangar floor, Gladys' pirates merely standing and watching, slack-jawed. They were always a suspicious bunch.

But that was only the first of the strange happenings that day. The second was when Andross started ranting about having come back to life or reliving the same day again. It was all nonsense. No, it was worse than nonsense. That megalomaniac had finally snapped. Vixy always thought there was something off about the scientist, no matter how charming he was. But ever since he went as far as kidnapping and imprisoning her, she knew he had come unhinged.

Without explaining a word to Gladys Andross ordered the pirates hiding in the marshes to steal some necklace from a lynx who he had no right knowing was there. When the pirates failed to report back and, as Andross put it, 'the day didn't reset', he became afraid. Vixy had never seen him that way. He called off the invasion. He locked himself in the laboratories by himself, rushing through experiment after experiment. But that was good for Vixy. She had her own mission.

The third strange event of that day was the same lynx who Andross tried to have assassinated calling her. She concisely explained what was going on in Badwash even better than Vixy could have, so she listened. This 'Miyu' girl needed her to stow aboard Gladys' flagship and open the warp rings for her when she and her army arrived. Once they were inside she would take control of the cruiser and help Miyu destroy Bacoon.

Moving on from the bounty hunter's interceptor, she located the least-revolting of the pirates and confronted him. The badger in the red sports hat was buried head-and-shoulders deep into the innards of his craft, tinkering away.

Vixy stopped behind him and crossed her arms. She cleared her throat.

Hearing her, the badger slowly extricated his head from the hood of his ship, probably because he had struck it so many times previously. He looked up at Vixy with a curious expression, thankfully not because of her fur color. She hadn't washed it off that day, so it remained orange.

"Eh? You want something vixen?"

"Take me to Gladys' flagship immediately," she began, summoning as much authority to her voice as she could muster. "I have an urgent message from the Doctor."

The badger rolled his eyes and muttered something about having to leave his ion carburetor in disrepair. But he dropped his wrench into a toolkit on the floor. "Fine. Get in. But only because it's that batshit ape."

Vixy climbed into his fighter's backseat, and the pirate got in shortly after. The control room radioed his request for warp ring activation to the base inside Bayoon, where the ring system was operated. The badger closed the canopy and took off, passing through the atmospheric forcefield.

Now outside the hangar Vixy craned her head above the badger's large shoulders to see the massive wall of clouds looming in front of them. He had the ship angled downwards to Bayoon, and with each passing second they began to speed up. A series of pulsing blue rings spun in front of them, shaped like needle points on a compass, only pointed inwards. Before phasing through Bayoon's crust to get to the hollow core, they would have to pass through each successive ring in a row.

Vixy slumped back in her seat and let out a long, methodical breath. She closed her eyes to think. _You can do this Vixy. Your husband does it all the time. How hard can fighting the bad guys possibly be?_

Paws clasped and mind cleared, she prayed to the old Cerinian gods for guidance and good fortune.

 _Give me the strength to help these innocent people._

The ship lurched as it sped through the first ring, rocketing forwards slightly. They had begun entry into the satellite's dark heart.

Where _he_ slept.


	14. The Nazar

_A/N_ _: Well, it's been over a year since I published the first chapter of this story. I wanted to get this update out on the anniversary of chapter one, buuuut it looks like that didn't happen. Eh, I'll settle for Groundhog Day._

 _I came through and put together a song for this chapter as well; it's pretty epic and action-packed. Maybe even overly-so. Link to it is up on my profile, as usual._

 **Chapter 14: The Nazar**

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

With less than an hour to defeat Bacoon, the rag-tag fleet of Aquan veterans, Badwash residents, and two amateur mercenaries took off from the fairgrounds.

Miyu snuggled comfortably into the leather-upholstered seat of her cockpit, flexing her fingers around the control sticks. It sure felt good to be back in the air again, especially inside a powerful beast like her Katinese interceptor. While they left the fields behind them, Miyu felt stronger than she ever had before. If any zombie amphibian tried to munch her brains she would just obliterate them with two 75 mm repeating laser cannons. That or just fly over them.

Their fleet soared over the wilderness of Badwash Bayou. Miyu and Fay's agile interceptors took the lead, followed by a dozen or so ancient fossils of spacecraft. The newest of the veteran's vehicles couldn't have been less than 60 years old. Each of them wore battle-scars that could make Miyu's heart skip if she studied how narrowly they missed the ship's vitals. It was a wonder how some of them survived the initial Bayoon-Pirate War so many years ago. Yet the Aquan veterans were a proud group, and always kept their ships polished and in working order—at least, as best as they could. Some were already trailing worrying plumes of smoke that blackened the pristine white clouds. Others creaked and shook with each sudden movement. But the elders knew their stuff. They were ace pilots who had seen more than their fair share of actual combat. If it wasn't for their age and possible dementia, Miyu would worry that she couldn't keep up with them.

Behind the veterans and keeping a safe distance were five newer ships that weren't complete embarrassments. The Rangers were able to dig up a small group of younger skilled pilots with shinier machines. They were the only ones confident enough in their own piloting skills to risk their lives for Badwash—and perhaps the whole of Bayoon. These would be the easiest pilots for Miyu to communicate with.

Having met, organized, and outlined vague battle plans in the fairgrounds, they wasted no time in taking to the skies. Miyu stared out over the swamplands racing by beneath her fighter—gray mangled trunks with green foliage whizzed past, nearly scraping the bottoms of their fighter craft. They had to stay low until the last possible moment to escape detection. But Miyu was glad she didn't have to traverse the swamp on foot. Now, from this height and the safety of her spacecraft, she felt detached from all the dangers lurking in that wilderness.

She traced a finger along the inside of her canopy, admiring how perfect and clear the replacement was. It was only a few hours earlier that she witnessed an industrial spike impaling the old one. Now there wasn't a speck of dust or hairline scrape in the new glass.

The southern face of Mount Obukula loomed in front of them. That was her cue. Miyu flipped on her mic and tapped into the private communication network they shared.

"Blue Leader to Badwash provisional forces: it's time for our ascent. Pull up now, and follow my lead. Visibility will soon be zero, so you'll have to track me with scanners. On three: one, two, three!"

At the head of the squadron Miyu pulled back on her control stick and nosed the interceptor up. It skated over the tops of the trees and began a vertical climb up the side of the mountain, closely followed by the rest of their forces. At this time of day when the sun first rose and caused a rapid change in temperature, the Pillar stretched lower down towards Bayoon's surface. The cotton wall enveloped the upper half of the mountain, and before they knew it they entered the clouds. This was the third time Miyu flew through the Pillar—the first being when they shot Mamba down, and the second when she and Fay took a ridiculously slow balloon.

Being half blind didn't matter now. Except for their equipment everyone was blind in the fog. It felt like rocketing through an endless, white sea. But Miyu knew where to go. She located Lagrange Rock on her radar and locked onto it. Everyone else tracked her and followed suit.

They had begun their first approach. It was time. Miyu quickly typed out a message in all caps on her wrist unit:

 _NOW_

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

A message popped up on Vixy's communicator, and she jumped. She was crouched in a small janitor's closet aboard Gladys' flagship, the _Minerva_. Hiding was easier than pretending she had a reason for being out and about on deck.

The message was short and clear enough. Swallowing, she stood up and peeked out the closet door, making sure the passageway was unoccupied and no one would notice her strange exit. She slipped out the door, stepping confidently down the steel corridor near the aft section of the _Minerva._ Several portholes opened in the left wall for a view of the abyss, but she dared not look outside. There was only shadow and fire, and _it._ If hell was a real place…

Vixy halted outside a storage room, which had been converted into the control room for the warp rings. She peeked through the small window slat, marveling at what the room housed. An odd blend of ancient technology completely alien to her, and more modern equipment used to interpret it all sat inside. With the pirates' help Andross excavated the machinery from the small city carved in Bacoon's shell, and reassembled it aboard Gladys' flagship. It was here that they tapped into the baffling power of the Ancients and opened warp gates capable of creating large slip-spaces through the entire crust of a moon. They had found smaller gates already activated in the Pillar, which allowed them the initial access to the core.

As if he _wanted_ to be found.

The controls were currently manned by a pair of scientists and two pirate officers who supervised them. It was always unclear which of Vixy's peers willingly followed Andross or were forced into it such as herself. But she couldn't take any chances.

As discreetly as possible, Vixy cracked the sliding metal doors open and tossed a glass vial into the room. It shattered on the floor, instantly releasing a cloud of chemicals which evaporated into the air. It did not go unnoticed. The occupants turned when they heard the glass break and Vixy could see the noses on their muzzles twitch when they smelled the acrid odor. It was a special mixture she had prepared herself in the labs, perfect for incapacitating her enemies. When the scientists realized what was going on they rushed the door and tried to hold it open, but Vixy already had it closed. She slung a pair of energy cuffs over the handles which met in the center of the two doors, effectively binding them together for the time being. Through the small window she could see the desperate faces of her fellow scientists as they pounded on the solid frame and yanked at the handles, begging her to let them out. But Vixy looked away.

When the banging ceased and Vixy confirmed the occupants were fast asleep, she unlocked the energy cuffs and slid the doors open. She allowed some additional time for the chemical to waft out and be replaced by clean air from the ventilators. Then she entered and set to work opening the gate.

Being a technically-minded vulpine, she quickly grasped how to operate the added-on machinery which provided an interface for the Ancient Aquan technology—a variety of polished shell buttons and gold wires, perhaps intentionally ornamental. In no time she had the warp gate open. Grabbing one of the unconscious pirates' rifles, she hefted the heavy piece of equipment in her arms, getting a feel for it. She stepped back carefully from the machinery, primed a charge shot, and let the bolt loose. A burst of sparks flew from the gate controls, and the modern interface the pirates had attached to the old now lay in charred, twisted scraps around them. She had effectively locked the gate open.

"Good luck, Miyu," she whispered out loud. She wished she was able to contact the lynx herself, but settled for a simple prayer.

Once done she smiled and congratulated herself for performing the first part of her mission so smoothly. But her work wasn't over yet. Peeking up and down the outside passageway, she shut the doors behind her and headed for the ship's bridge.

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

"There they are!"

" _I see them!"_

At the head of the strike force, Miyu and Fay were the first to spot the warp gate: a series of rings formed by ghostly blue triangles. As Vixy explained, they needed to fly through all seven of them. Seemingly an easy task given they were all in a straight line. Only they would have to enter from the opposite direction so they warped into Bayoon and not the underwater temple on Aquas.

"On my lead!" Miyu commanded. "Destroy any turrets on our first pass while we still have them by surprise."

She flew straight by the pulsating rings and ran alongside Lagrange Rock. Swooping in low, she targeted one of the double-barreled guns protruding from the rocky moonlet. Pressing her fingers on the triggers, her interceptor let loose a torrent of laser rounds which drenched the defensive cannons until they erupted in fire. Now feeling overprotective of her windshield, Miyu spiraled away from the debris instead of flying through it. She hoped that vanity wouldn't get herself killed.

Miyu glanced at a rearward camera feed and was pleased to see some of the vets taking out cannons themselves. Between their forces they managed to completely rout the satellite's defenses. The pirates identified the incoming threat too late to react.

 _"All clear!"_

Miyu smiled. The first in hopefully a long line of victories.

"U-turn; fly through the rings on the second pass and regroup on the other side."

" _What do you expect to see once we get in, Blue Leader?"_ one of the younger Aquans asked.

She shook her head. "I don't know. Just a whole lot of pirates, and one massive friggin' clam. Soon we'll be a fraction of a few people to ever see the inside of a moon."

Together the ships performed a 180-degree turn and sped back towards the vaguely potato-shaped rock for the second time. Now they faced down toward Bayoon.

" _Fighters!"_ Fay warned. Sure enough, a drip of pirate fighter craft began to emerge from Lagrange's hangar, but they were clearly unprepared and hastily scrambled. A volley of laser fire arced from over Miyu's shoulder, presumably from Fay's interceptor, which downed the foremost ship before the lynx could even lift a finger. The others followed in quick succession, but several more began to replace them.

"Remember to go through every ring, or it won't be enough to phase through Bayoon's crust. If you mess up, pull around for another go. If you think there are too many fighters to return for a second attempt, badger them and pull some away. Now, stay with me!"

At the head of the column, Miyu dropped past Lagrange Rock and entered the first ring. Her ship experienced a jolt and accelerated, beginning to roll to the right. She frowned and tried to correct. Lurching through the second ring only exacerbated the problem.

"Don't panic when your ship starts to spin," she cautioned the others and herself. "You shouldn't have to adjust your course anyway."

" _Hyuk. Six pack o' Wild-Eye Jones'll do the same trick."_

Miyu rolled her eyes, only for her ship to shoot forward again and increase its angular speed. Now she was starting to get sick.

It only got worse from there. With each new ring they passed through their spacecraft spun faster and faster. The remaining rings grew more out of focus, which didn't make sense because Miyu only had one eye. Yet somehow she saw the blue rings split into two or three clones—all of which wavered and shimmered like they were underwater.

Finally when she passed through the final warp ring her ship abruptly stopped spinning and shot forward. The clouds ahead vanished, replaced by an even brighter blinding white light. The new void strobed with fluorescent pinks, greens, blues, and yellows, which gave Miyu the sensation of watching a trippy music video. Surrounding her flight path were asteroids and chunks of rocks crisscrossed with glowing circuit patterns. Some even rivaled Lagrange Rock.

Miyu started when she noticed other-worldly creatures peeking at her from between the rocks: strange insect-like things with cone-shaped bodies and fluttering butterfly wings. They were devoid of color and shadow, or any kind of visual information besides what seemed like black-and-white TV snow. She tried to contact the others on the radio, but was only confronted with a blast of ethereal static.

Even though she barely had the time to process it all, the interdimensional void wavered like the top of a disturbed pool until it completely faded away, leaving behind nothing but shadow.

* * *

⦓⌣⦔

* * *

For a few seconds Miyu just slouched in her cockpit, dazed. Her stomach had to catch up to the rest of her body, and her vision needed to adjust to the dark. In the minutes that followed, Fay and the rest of the Aquans warped in behind her. They idly drifted in the void, trying to parse their recent experience. Eventually one of the frogs summed up what everyone was thinking.

" _That ain't like Wild-Eye Jones t'all..."_

Regardless, they were now inside of Aquas' moon, deep beneath the solid crust. Their ships flew in a vast, black space. Straight ahead was the core; a dim, molten mass of iron and other liquid metals that lazily churned and boiled. On the opposite side floated an array of silvery glints—the pirate battleships which reflected the light from the core. But on the near side a large, oval-shaped shadow was transiting between them and the fiery orange core.

" _There they are,"_ one of the younger Aquans said.

" _What's that small moon thing circling the core?"_

Miyu shivered. "That's him. Bacoon. Namesake of your birthplace. That's the thing we have to kill before he can drive your people insane."

" _Well wouldja look at that. Wait'll I tell my little polliwogs about this!"_

"This is where we split up. Red Flight, follow Amos and set up a defensive perimeter around Bacoon. Once they realize what we're up to they'll scramble all available fighters to stop us. Try to hold out until reinforcements arrive. Blue Flight, follow me. We'll deal with Bacoon. Now split!"

There was momentary silence from Amos.

" _No."_

"What?!" Miyu exclaimed. "Why?!"

The amphibian _harrumphed_. _"You didn't use my oh-fficial callsign."_

Miyu rolled her eye. "Alright. _Red Leader,_ break off and set up a perimeter."

" _Damn tootin' I will. Follow me boys!"_

Amos split from their group, taking six other fighters with him. The remaining three plus Fay continued after Miyu.

" _Let's steam this oyster!"_ Fay cheered.

Miyu snorted a bit. "Agreed. I'm tired of having clams raw. I'll try one cooked for once. Certainly don't make 'em this big back on Katina."

" _Aw I've caught bigger wading in the saltwater flats,"_ another 'Yoon bragged.

"Great. Then this one shouldn't be any different."

Their squad approached the looming shadow of Bacoon, breaking apart to encircle him on different flight paths. Now that Miyu flew on the other side of the mollusk she was able to see his "day" half; the side illuminated by the molten core he orbited. He was monstrously huge. The two halves of his shell clamped tightly down, protecting whatever alien flesh hibernated within. His shell's exterior bore signs of weathering thousands of years of ocean life, and even his journey through space. Patches of dark green algae—now long dead—covered over small crater-sized pockets in his shell, probably from collisions with small asteroids on his way to Lylat. The shell itself was ridged; the lips curving up and down in a sinewave pattern around the mouth. Sheets and rivulets in his chitinous exoskeleton indicated the new layer he grew on his shell each year. Just as Miyu would count the rings on a tree stump, she could probably count the layers in his shell and figure out his age. Barnacles the size of volcanoes studded the top and bottom halves of his shell, but whatever mammoth-sized larvae lived within had dried up eons ago.

Yet what drew Miyu's eyes and communicated the sheer size of the sea god was the veritable city carved into his shell. Small spiral towers hung beneath him like stalactites, while others adorned his head like a crown. Some buildings provided compact housing, and winding paths crawled their way up and down his carapace. A miniature temple with columns and a pediment sat in between the crown of towers on his head, probably dedicated to him.

" _For something that looks like a giant shellfish, he sure has a big ego."_ Fay accurately voiced Miyu's thoughts.

"Cut the chatter Blue 2."

" _I bet you get off saying that."_

Miyu glared at Fay's fighter, even though she couldn't see her inside.

"Start pounding away at that shell. Let's try to blow a hole in the mouth, or at least get his attention so he opens it. I'll make the first run."

Miyu rolled out of orbit and passed within one hundred feet of Bacoon. While saying a quick prayer she wracked his carapace with a volley of laser rounds. After her first pass she had to orbit around his back to get at him from the front again. His dark shadow fell over her; his shell blocking the moon's core.

"Did I inflict any damage?"

" _Negative,"_ Fay sighed. _"Not a scratch."_

Miyu pounded her control panel with a fist. "He's gonna be a tough nut to crack. My ship build is lighter; maybe you Aquans have more firepower?"

" _We'll give it a go ma'am."_

The 'Yoon pilots took turns peppering Bacoon's shell, but yielded no results.

" _Damn. Still nothing."_

"Let's step it up." Miyu swooped around to Bacoon's front. "Which one of you brought the bombs?"

" _I did, miss. Want me ta use 'em now?"_

"Yes, go for it. Give it all you've got!"

One of the older vessels swept in close to Bacoon, then pulled up once it reached the creature's shell. At the last second the pilot released a load of explosives where the two carapaces met, which one-by-one struck home and erupted in fiery bursts of light. But when the sparks, smoke, and debris cleared, there wasn't a scratch on the shell. The Aquan had only managed to clear the grime and rock formations that had accreted over time.

" _What in tarnation's that thing made of?"_

Growing steadily frustrated, Miyu brought her ship around for another pass. This time she abruptly stopped in front of Bacoon and hovered in place, struggling against the pull of the core. Snarling, she clamped her fingers down on the triggers and fried the same spot on the behemoth's shell over and over again.

When her vicious attack showed no sign of letting up, Fay nervously yipped, _"Hey Miyu, stop! You're not doing any good that way."_

Miyu kept up her incessant volley until Fay's words truly registered. Sighing, she let go of the triggers and pulled away.

"You're right. This isn't getting us anywhere. We'll have to try plan B."

" _How many o' those plans ya got, miss?"_

"Up through E, which is killing myself and restarting the day to... think up another plan."

" _Oh. Well, I'm glad that's E."_

"I'm completely sane dammit!" she shouted into her intercom.

* * *

⦓≍⦔

* * *

"Captain Gladys, we seem to be under attack."

"What do you mean, 'seem to be'?"

The maroon-furred stoat reclined in the captain's chair above the rest of the pirates in the bridge's crew pit. It was more of a throne than a standard chair: gold crusted its frame and red velvet covered the cushions. Gladys spared no expense. On the wall behind her seat hung two luxuriously-framed paintings of herself in beautiful exotic garb, which glowed even more extravagantly than her current outfit. Her two tiger bodyguards/escorts currently waited on her—one giving her a foot massage while the other braided her long, flowing hair.

"A dozen fighters destroyed the defensive turrets aboard Lagrange before warping in here. They're in Bacoon's vicinity now."

Gladys played with a free lock of hair while staring out the viewing window. The bridge overlooked Bayoon's core, which boiled and shifted like a sphere of molten soup at the moon's center. From the battleship's position she couldn't see Bacoon on the other side.

"Shoo, Rib-Roasts," she waved off her bodyguards. "Momma has some frogs to flash-fry."

The pair of beefy tigers put aside their current tasks and took up positions behind Gladys' throne, arms crossed and staring down any lowly crewmember who gawked at her too long.

"So they found us already?" the Captain mused. "What got into those scientists, leaving the gates open? They're supposed to remain closed at all times! Ensign, contact the warp gate operators immediately."

One of the communication officers in the crew pit tried to reach the scientists but came up empty.

"No response, Captain."

"Then get a detail there on the double! In the meantime, we'll have to deal with these intruders. Most likely locals who got a bit too curious. They must not leave alive, understood? Close the gates and scramble as many fighters as you can find who are decently sober."

"Our numbers are sorely depleted, Captain Gladys. Most of the men are aboard Lagrange, waiting for the invasion."

"They're _still_ waiting out there? That madman of an ape called it off, so we may as well summon them back. Contact Lagrange for reinforcements. We'll rout these leather-skins in no time."

Another radio officer demanded her attention. "Captain, I've just decoded a message from one of the inhabitants of Badwash."

Gladys rested her head in her hand while studying the painted claws on her other paw. "Oh? What was it about? Mucking around in pond scum for leaches to eat raw?"

"You're not going to believe this, but it was from Fay MacDomhan, niece of General Pepper. Unfortunately she knows all about us and squealed to her dear old unc. The Cornerians—they're coming. Like… all of them."

Gladys continued splaying her fingers to get a better view of their paintjob.

"…C-Captain?"

She maintained a faux-calmness on the outside, but in reality her mind drifted back to the routing at Sector Z. Ship-rattling explosions echoed in her mind, punctuated by streams of laser fire and disintegrating fighters. Screams of anguish and pleas for orders distorted over radio channels assaulted her ears, and one by one she received word that another captain had fallen to the Cornerian onslaught. And through it all, the flame-like nebula bathed them in a blood-red aura, proclaiming the utter destruction of the once fearsome pirate fleet.

A shiver escaped her resolute pose.

That would've been the end of organized piracy in Lylat if she hadn't taken the helm and rallied the pirates together. She gathered what forces remained, dealt the Cornerians some vengeful, though futile blows, and escaped into thin air. The pirates scattered to every corner of Lylat—many hiding in Meteo and Sargasso, others on uninhabited planets—but she took the main force to Bayoon and hid them with the help of Andross, right under the Cornerians' noses. It was asking for trouble, but… why had it fallen apart so fast?

More than that, Pepper became a war hero after Sector Z, and was even promoted to Consulate General after the pirates killed his predecessor. Pepper had a score to settle with Gladys; after his promotion he vowed to hunt down those that escaped the Cornerians' wrath. He had been chasing Gladys for nearly a month now, and she trembled to think what he'd do to her when he found her.

After a moment of reflection, she stopped inspecting her nails. "We're pulling out. We'll make for Sargasso. Begin preparations to leave the core. In the meantime, continue with your present task; killing the intruders. The sooner you annihilate them the sooner I let you back on board."

"What about Doctor Andross, Captain?"

"Contact him. We must warn him of the Cornerians and tell him to get packing. Ask him if there are any other exits from the core."

The communications officer contacted his peer on Lagrange.

"They say they told him about the Cornerians, but he's still locked in his labs."

"Well blow the door down!" she screeched. "He's not in charge here. If you have to, force entrance into the labs, subdue the Doctor, and pack his notes yourself. He and his formula are coming with us. Tell him it's for his own good."

"Yes, Captain. But, if you don't mind my asking… what's he doing in there? Why isn't he afraid of the Cornerians? First we don't get a response from the gate operators, and now this."

Gladys crossed her arms and stared intently at the core.

"I'm starting to smell a rat."

* * *

⦓⁌⁍⦔

* * *

" _Bogeys incoming!"_

" _Let them come!"_ Amos growled.

Miyu looked away from Bacoon to see a small squadron of fighters rounding the core from the eastern face. From a distance their ships looked like orange speckles. At first they approached alone, but then the sinister prows of the pirate battleships crested the molten horizon, like leviathan sea monsters rearing their heads above a lake of fire.

" _Fifteen fighters, four battleships,"_ one of the younger Aquans informed them. _"We're awfully outnumbered."_

" _I'm surprised there ain't more. Where's the rest of them?"_

"They were preparing to invade Badwash," Miyu explained. "Probably waiting on Lagrange Rock. Watch the warp gate exit in case they come to back the other force up. In the meantime Amos—er, Red Leader—it's your job to dispatch them. Take the rest of Blue Flight minus Fay; that'll even things out a bit, making it 12 vs. 15. Think you can handle it?"

" _Hellfire, woman! You do me an injustice talking like that. These mange-pelted flea-bitten food-hungrin' scurvy-suffrin' boots-shakin' septic-slurpin' bootleg-guzzlin'_ _scoundrels ain't fought no one like us'ns. Cain't match our years of experience. Ain't that right, fellas?"_

One of the Aquan's vessels drifted to the left.

" _Well simmer mah legs in oil. So that's how you yaw again."_

Amos tsked. _"Thair may be a smidge o' rust on our wings. But some more flyin' ought-ta cure that. Stay with me, Badwash Brigade!"_

Amos broke away from circling Bacoon, taking the majority of their strike force with him. They formed a 3D tetrahedron with "Red Leader" at the front apex. Following his lead they approached the incoming pirates, headless of the four battleships in the distance.

" _Alrighty men, fellow veterans, and new generation 'Yoons. Fight hard, and remember the Battle of… the Battle… of…"_

Amos trailed off.

"… _fuck!"_

The Aquan and pirate forces clashed. The two groups immediately broke formation and scattered, with only two-to-three ships sticking together. From Miyu and Fay's position they looked like sparkling insects diving in and out of the rock debris orbiting the core. Flashes of green and red laser fire darted between the moonlets, punctuated by an occasional explosion—hopefully one of the pirates or a piece of debris. For the moment it looked like they could hold their own even against the space pirates' greater numbers. But each side had to race against the clock. Miyu and Fay had to defeat Bacoon before eclipse; the Aquans had to destroy the pirate fighters before new reinforcements and the battleships arrived; and the pirates had to deal with the Aquans before the Cornerians showed up to annihilate them all.

And Miyu was at the center of it.

"Cover me, Fay. I'm about to do something crazy."

Fay's _Meduza_ began circling the lynx's interceptor.

" _I know better than to ask_ what _you're doing, but good luck!"_

Miyu checked a reading on her heads-up display. Rather surprisingly, the air outside was breathable. But that followed from Aquas and Bayoon sharing the same atmosphere, and she assumed Bacoon wouldn't try to make his home in the core unless it was habitable. But with that confirmation she slowed her ship down to hover directly in front of Bacoon's mouth, oriented so that the fiery core was straight down.

She popped her canopy.

A warm gust of air rushed inside, vanquishing the cold. The air was now hot and dry—must've been in the hundreds.

After swiping the sole ice-cream bar from her compact fridge compartment, Miyu unbuckled and stood up. With a few shaky steps she planted herself on the nose of the _Sveno,_ one foot still grounded in the cockpit atop her control panel. With a trembling hand she held the ice-cream bar between herself and Bacoon's closed shell. She tore off the white plastic wrapper, revealing a bar of neon-yellow ice-cream on a popsicle stick.

Her trump card.

What Miyu intended to do even frightened her, but she told herself she had no choice. She had to lure him out. So with pounding heart and shortened breath she raised the popsicle to her mouth and bit.

For something so deadly it tasted amazing—no matter how much magnetosome-carrying bacteria was in it. It had a creamy-lemon flavor, with most of the sour bite taken out. The hot air rising from the core quickly set to work melting it, reaching the point where it dissolved in her mouth.

When she was done she dropped the stick over her ship's side and defiantly licked her fingers, which were sticky with the ice-cream's run-off.

"Alright Bacoon, come and claim me. Let's see if you have the courage to meet me eye-to-eye."

At first she felt nothing. The uncomfortably-warm air threatened to dehydrate her, and updrafts shook her hovering fighter. From the eastern face of the core emanated the harsh, industrial sounds of plasma weapons, explosions, and engines propelling large battleships their direction. But Miyu tuned it all out. She focused intently on the immoveable sea god floating before her.

A wave of nausea struck Miyu, and dizziness set her off balance. She wavered on the nose of her ship, falling back to a kneeling position for extra support. A sickly tinge of yellow stained every facet of her vision. But after accommodating for these setbacks she rose to her feet again.

The sound of cracking stone snapped loudly through the air. Pieces splintered off from between Bacoon's lips, and a cloud of dust formed. Miyu's heart caught as a thin, black line appeared between the twin carapaces, which slowly widened. It was the same as before—she had seen it in her dream, only now the horror was illuminated by Bayoon's molten core. The impenetrable shells opened to reveal two large columns of fleshy muscles, revoltingly discolored blue and purple. Atrophied from tens of thousands of years of lethargy and disuse, the tendons hardened and pushed the two halves apart, widening the gap. Like sunlight hitting a planet during an eclipse, Bayoon's molten center lit more and more of the monster's core, dispelling the shadows within. A disgusting knot of skin lay at the rear of the cavern, back between the two adductor muscles. Just as the two carapaces had opened, so the layers of the knot fell away until they exposed Bacoon's eye. The gelatinous orb lazily rotated left and right, as if seeing the outside world for the first time. Thousands of miniature eyes along the rims of his shells blinked open as well, curiously peeking out.

Then, the central eye froze, and the lid around it blinked. Slowly, it began to rotate back.

It stopped directly on Miyu.

"F-F-Fay! Kill it, now!"

The burning remains of a fighter flashed between Miyu and the sea god, severing their connection for a minute as its meteor trail passed. Miyu followed its flaming corpse into the lava below.

" _Can't! I'm too busy keeping these… goddamn… pirates off of you! But I'll try!"_

Miyu desperately called Vixy, who thankfully picked up but answered with a whisper.

" _Hello?"_

"Hurry! I got Bacoon to come out of his shell, but you'll have to take control of the heavy cannons fast. I don't know how much longer I can… hold… him…"

" _Miyu? Miyu?!"_

She went back to staring down Bacoon, only to see his eye close and blink once again. But when it reopened it glowed with the same surreal fire of Andross' chemical, of which Bacoon was the original creator. Miyu felt everything around her melt away, along with the sudden sensation of accelerating towards the monster. Free of gravity she zoomed forwards and into Bacoon's black, bottomless pupil; her body stretching like she had fallen into a black hole.

* * *

⦓⓪⦔

* * *

 _There it was. The forest. The aspens. The creek. The hill. Just like death, she couldn't escape her past. She thought this time might be different, but it wasn't._

 _The hill was bare now. No picnic blanket or basket or remains of food. No radio, no camera. No sign of her outings with her sister. It was many years since then—she was no longer small like an infant, but young-adult-sized as she was on Bayoon. There was only the unmarked grave atop which she sat, and the trees which continued to grow and fade in yearly cycles without her._

 _Though her sister was gone, Miyu wasn't alone. The eye scars left behind by broken tree limbs opened, staring at her with beady pupils. A shadow passed over the ground beneath her feet, darkening the blades of grass. She looked up, once again coming face-to-face with Bacoon. His hulking shell blotted out the sun; his sole eye focused on her._

 _Miyu scowled up at him. She masked her fear with aggression. "What do you want?"_

 _Bacoon's lid blinked._

" _Have you been giving me these dreams ever since I got here?_ You're _the one?" She climbed up from her sprawled position, opening her palms to Bacoon. "What do you care about my past? It doesn't concern you. It doesn't even concern me anymore. I've left it behind…"_

 _She felt like a bug under a microscope, staring at him. She wondered if he was a dumb beast with a small brain and negligible sapience, or if his intelligence was on a higher plain than her own. She wondered if she were speaking incomprehensible words to him, with how little he reacted. Her voice could be as intelligible as the buzzing of a fly._

" _Do you care because it's me? Because I'm the one giving you so much trouble? Then you should. You're an alien here. You don't belong. You've come to dominate the races of the Lylat, and I won't let you do that. I won't even let you massacre a town of backward frogs I barely know. You won't have the chance. I'm going to kill you first."_

 _A spark of yellow dropped into Miyu's field of view. She focused in closer to gaze upon it, realizing it was an aspen leaf. Both herself and Bacoon's observant eye tracked it while it fluttered lazily to the ground._

 _A thud behind her._

 _Miyu whirled around. Her own body lay crumpled on the hillside, most of the face bitten out of. It was a grizzly sight, contrasting with the pristine, ethereal glade, and Miyu didn't feel the need to linger on it. She looked back up at Bacoon, whose eye had returned to her._

" _What? Is that supposed to scare me? I've seen far worse."_

 _His moon-sized pupil shifted, following another leaf as it gently alighted on the ground._

 _Another thud, and Miyu again spun around. A second corpse lay there—the same lynx that always looked back at her from mirrors. This one had its stomach torn to bloody shreds with teeth and claw marks. It rested in a fetal position on the hill, hands limply clutching the grass, jaw open in a silent moan, eyes hidden by shadows._

 _Now Miyu remembered how it happened—Fay herself had succumbed to Bacoon's mind-control drug and turned on her friend._

" _That doesn't bother me," she retorted. "What matters most is I stayed true to Fay and didn't kill her." A third and fourth leaf fluttered in front of her, but she was intently glaring daggers at Bacoon. "It doesn't matter that it was in another timeline or whatever bull-shitty thing that was. It would've scarred me if I'd killed her, so letting myself die was the right—"_

 _Two more bodies hit the ground behind her. One splashing water or some liquid on her back. She turned, observing the new pair of corpses. One wretched lynx had its mouth frozen in a silent scream, its stomach sliced open and pinned back, revealing a hollow cavern of skin and bloodied walls inside—organless. The other was broken and mangled, dripping water._

" _I-I get it. That's all happened to me before. But it's not going to again. I believe I've died for a purpose, and that purpose is to kill you_ _—here, now,_ _once and for all. In fact, it doesn't matter how many times I have to die. I'll just pick myself up and brush it off my shoulder as if nothing happened. The friends I lost, the Aquans that died? They're a-alive, again…"_

 _But as Bacoon's shadow loomed over her she became filled with doubt. The corpses lay around her in a rough square shape, lifeless, bearing the same wounds that killed them in life. Here she stood, alive and healed of every scar, baring that one exception to the rule… yet there all her past lives lay, dead. Their bodies didn't have a right to exist. It wasn't just her that reset each time—it was the entire universe, wasn't it? Or…_

 _She gulped._

 _...Or did those realities continue on after she died? When she died in the past, did time continue on, parallel to what she was living now? Were there four other universes with horrible endings that her own failures had spawned? Were there now five versions of reality and the people she loved, each doomed to death or a living hell at the mercy of Bacoon? It was hard to understand and wrap her mind around it, yet at the same time the possibility of it frightened her. It caused her to question the very foundation of her reality, and whether or not her current goal was ultimately meaningless._

" _This… this isn't the end," Miyu sniffed. "This can't end the same way."_

 _But the leaves wouldn't stop falling._

 _More and more of her corpses appeared on the ground, each bearing horrible wounds that made her shudder to think of the deaths she must have endured—or was still going to endure. They were beaten and bloodied, dripping yellow sludge, broken-boned, and riddled with bullet and laser holes. A couple were even burned to an ashen crisp._

 _She tried to lift her foot, but it was caught beneath one of her bodies. She looked down to free it, but tripped and stumbled back when she saw her own lifeless face gazing through herself. She landed on more corpse and tried to crawl back up, but there was now a veritable wall of her own bodies trapping her, drowning her in physical manifestations of her own failures._

 _She didn't know if Bacoon could talk or understand her language. He didn't need to. The images he showed were clear enough._

 _And still, the leaves fell from skeletal white branches._

 _The bodies boxed her in, masking the trees and the forest and blocking everything until she could only look up and stare into Bacoon's eye—his iris a hypnotizing maze she was terrified of losing herself in._

 _Then, over the sound of the rustling leaves and her own gasps, she heard a giggle._

 _Miyu recognized it. She latched onto it, using it to pull herself up from the pile of corpses. Finally emerging from the top, she scanned the trees for its source. A flash of creamy-white gave her away; there was her sister, peeking at her from between the aspens._

" _Miiiiyuuuuu…" she called in a sing-song voice._

" _Lily." Miyu struggled to pull herself free from the top of the pile. "Lily, I'm coming! Stay where you are!"_

 _But her sister merely stuck out her tongue and pulled one of her eyelids down, making a grotesque, childish face. After taunting her, she turned-tail and disappeared into the trees._

" _Lily!" Miyu cursed herself for taking the bait, but she couldn't help it. She just had too, even if the knowledge of Bacoon and his intentional choice of visions still nagged in the back of her mind._

 _She finally broke free of the pile, only to discover a set of golden chains holding her back. The coils wrapped around her neck and torso, emerging from somewhere deep in the pile of bodies. She pulled and tugged with all her might, but she only succeeded in lifting the weight at the other end out of the pile—a giant shell pendent carved from mother of pearl._

 _Miyu whimpered, caught between the necklace and her sister who was quickly disappearing into the forest. And Bacoon, who silently watched from above._

 _Maybe… maybe she could reset all of this. It was clear it only ended one way, but the beginning was there for her to experience over and over again. Forget saving Bayoon. What if she could reset further back? Years and years before. She could change so much more. She could change everything. She could go back, and for the first time in a decade see…_

 _A hard knot poked her ribs from inside her jacket. She reached into the inside pocket, revealing the ornamental knife—the very one Cira used to stab her eye out. It sent warning sirens in her mind blaring, but it was the only way. With the knife firmly in hand, she began sawing away at the necklace chains holding her back._

 _Overhead, Bacoon's pupil grew wider in anticipation, drinking in the scene beneath him._

* * *

⦓⓪⦔

* * *

"Dammit Miyu, he's got a lock on you!"

Fay jammed the throttle forward and pressed her ship's boosters to the max, reveling in how fast the interceptor's lightweight build allowed it to fly. The pirate noticed Fay approaching at the last second and veered away from Miyu, breaking his lock. Fay didn't let up, instead pursuing the miscreant further. He was an agile one, especially skilled at evasion. He seemed to fly circles around Fay's lasers. Though maybe she could use that to her advantage.

The spaniel picked out a boulder floating in the distance, one of many rocks orbiting the core. She fired to the left and underneath the pirate, then above, then beneath and right, ferrying the pirate towards the debris. He was so intent on dodging Fay's fire that he only noticed the rock moments before he would have crashed into it. From the angle he was approaching he inevitably spun to the left—right into Fay's predictive plasma rounds. His fighter erupted in a spray of sparks and smoke, plummeting like a brick into the liquid furnace below.

Releasing a pent-up breath Fay performed a U-turn and headed back to Miyu's side.

" _This is Red Leader,"_ Amos' voice came. _"We've cleared the last of the initial varmints, but… looks like their backup has arrived."_

Fay looked in the direction of the blue exit rings, around which a new array of pirate fighters had materialized.

The comm line blasted with the sound of Amos charging up his saliva before expelling the wad into a spittoon he must've kept aboard his ship at all times. _"They can't hope to ever beat us in a fair fight, so they's gotta resort to larger numbers. Them cowards."_

"We'll hold them off," Fay promised. They had only lost two fighters so far; against all odds the Bayoons demonstrated superior skills against the comparatively less-experienced pirates. Like riding a bike, they never un-learned how to fly. But at the moment Fay had other things to worry about.

She pulled in close for a pass by Miyu's ship. Fay was horrified to see the feline locked in a trance-like staring contest with Bacoon. She had the necklace dangling from one hand and the dagger clutched in the other.

 _Oh no…_

"Miyu, Miyu! Snap out of it! You don't know what you're doing! You've got to wake up! WAKE UP!"

Suddenly the air crackled with an obscene amount of energy, and a blinding green laser bolt struck one of the Aquan's ships. It disintegrated into a million sparks before it even had the chance to plummet into the fiery sea.

 _"No, Eddie!"_

Fay looked around, horrified to see the largest of the four pirate battleships bearing down on them.

It dawned on her like a funeral bell that in but a few moments its heavy artillery cannons would wipe them all out. Gladys was done playing around.

As the cannons began charging a second bolt, a green wash bathed over each of Fay and the Aquans' terrified faces.

* * *

⦓⓪⦔

* * *

With the press of a button, Vixy armed the last tactical grenade. She had placed it along with the others underneath the ledge of the bridge deck—an area usually reserved for maintenance. From the deck above she could hear the terse voice of Captain Gladys spitting orders and bemoaning the dire situation she was in. They were unaware of her presence.

Before activating the timer she glanced out the viewing window which wrapped around the bridge, observing the shrunken core that cast a warm, orange glow about her face. She spotted flashes of laser fire surrounding Bacoon's shell—the dogfight between the Aquans and pirate forces. She squinted. Had the two halves of Bacoon's carapace split? Was that his eye peering out?

The lynx had done it. Vixy didn't know how, but all that mattered was that she fulfil her own objective. Starting the timer, she walked towards the service ladder and climbed back up it. She now stood on the main bridge, where crewmembers and officers milled about, making preparations to attack the Aquans and for their subsequent escape. She tried her best to look inconspicuous and confident; like she had very important reasons for being there and couldn't be bothered to stop.

However, as she approached the exit, her comm rang.

She excitedly raised the PDU to her lips and whispered, "Miyu, I've planted the bombs!"

" _What are you blathering on about? It's me, my dear."_

Vixy's heart sank.

 _"Drop whatever you're doing and fly to Lagrange Rock immediately. The Cornerians are coming, which means_ we're _leaving. I've perfected the chemical, but I'll be damned if I let that painted hag get her claws on it. Now, can you get your hands on a ship?"_

Vixy swallowed, but was relieved Andross had ignored her first words. "I'm sorry, Dr. Bowman. I'm not going with you. I'm seeking refuge with the Cornerians when they arrive and smoke Gladys out."

" _You're… you're abandoning me?"_ The link went silent for a time until Andross sighed. _"I should have known that. In fact, I_ did _know that. But I denied that truth and like the fool I was and held onto the blind, misguided hope that you might stay with me. What indication did you ever give that you would remain? None. Now I know firsthand how even Lylat's most intelligent can fall. Very well then. Get out while you still can. Badwash and perhaps Bayoon won't be around much longer. Go back to your loving husband and your snot-nosed son. I… I was wrong to separate—"_ Andross paused, thinking. _"Miyu… that cat who's given me so much trouble? Are you concocting something with her?"_

"No! No forget that. Sh-she's just helping me escape Gladys like you wanted! But I've changed my mind, Andross. I'll come with you! Just wait until I find a ship—"

" _So you found a way to betray me after all—you exposed me to my greatest enemy, and brought about the downfall of everything I worked for. I saw it but denied it. You are not my scornful mistress. You are my enemy, who took advantage of my blindness and the freedom I gave you. Then so be it. Betrayal is a beautiful tool, but I can't abide it happening to me. Farewell, Vixy."_

"Andross, _please!"_

As the scientist ended the connection an alarm went off on her PDU, immediately alerting everyone on the bridge.

Gladys raised an eyebrow, studying Vixy from atop her throne. "Seize her!"

A pair of crewmembers grabbed and dragged Vixy kicking and struggling to the foot of Gladys' throne.

The Captain rested her cheek on her hand and gloated down at her. "If it isn't Andross's mistress. Up to no good after all this time? Took you long enough to get going."

Vixy was deathly aware of the ticking timebombs ready to go off at any second. What horrified her more was that she had lost track of the seconds since she activated the timer. Any instant now they would take the bridge crew, Gladys, and herself in a deadly explosion. And the worst part of it was she wouldn't know when.

"Gladys, you have to let me go! There are bombs planted all over this bridge!"

Gasps erupted among the crewmembers.

The Captain pointed an accusatory finger at her. "You're working with Andross to assassinate me, aren't you?!"

"Yes, _yes!_ Now please just let me go, they'll explode any minute if I don't—"

Gladys waved her paw and the two pirates holding her let go. Vixy dropped to her knees and whipped the detonator from her coat. When she got the LED screen to face herself, she gasped. It had already counted down to _1._

A blinding flash of light transformed the bridge around her, and a force wave flung her against the bulkhead. Intense heat seared her back, and the world snapped to black.


	15. Return to Sender

**Chapter 15: Return to Sender**

 _A/N_ _: The theme song I made for this chapter is linked on my profile page. I've had this chapter sitting completed and ready to go in the doc manager for a month now, but the limiting reactant was this song._

* * *

⦓⓪⦔

* * *

The Aquan pilots scattered like rats. Shaking off her horrified stupor, Fay shoved the throttle and sent her ship rocketing forward to evade the incoming barrage. Once Gladys' flagship finished charging its heavy canons, a blinding flash covered the debris field and moonlets, and an emerald pair of plasma beams struck down two Aquan ships flying too close together. Their charred carcasses plummeted to the molten core below, and Fay realized she would hear two less voices over the comm link.

Fay pressed her ship as fast as it could go, hoping to outrun Gladys' cruiser. It couldn't possibly follow every Aquan at once, given how different their flight paths were, so hopefully it wouldn't choose to target her out of all of them.

In an instant their group descended into chaos. There was no more coordination; only hoots and hollers and anguished prayers over the comm system. Their plans fell through. No strategy. No cooperation. Just the selfish desire to flee and escape the rays of death raining down on them like hail.

Fay gunned her ship towards the western side of the core, weaving in and out of the accretion disk orbiting it. The least she could do was lead the _Minerva_ away from Miyu. Through a rear camera she could see glints of orange speckles on the flagship's exterior, blinking between the rocky moonlets. Her heart skipped a beat, then hit the ground galloping.

The nose was pointed straight at her.

"Miyu, wake up!" she screamed into the comm link, trying to be heard above the Aquans' din.

An alarm signaled a lock on to her ship—a powerful one by the sound of it. Fay's arm and neck fur stood on end, and deathly chills racked her body. Like the static buildup before a lightning strike, Fay could feel the air in her cockpit charging up—a harbinger of what was to follow.

Green light illuminated the instruments on her dashboard as the heavy cannons began to gather energy. Helpless, Fay scrunched her eyes shut and screamed, "MIYUUUUU!"

The ship erupted in fire, and a thunderous _crack_ filled the air.

Gasping, Fay opened her eyes and looked at the rear feed on her display.

The bridge of Gladys' flagship was covered in fire, belching black smoke. Shrapnel and broken glass fell in small flurries to the boiling sea below. The battleship nosed forward for a few seconds, then began aimlessly drifting through space.

A tear slipped from Fay's eye, and she laughed from relief. "She did it… that woman did it!"

* * *

⦓⓪⦔

* * *

Pain—every nerve ending screamed.

It was the first sensation Vixy felt when she regained consciousness. Thousands of stinging pinpricks in her flesh. The smell of burnt fur and smoldering metal. A throbbing series of migraines in her head. But it all meant one thing; she was still alive.

Vixy's eyes slowly crept open, and she was greeted with the ruined interior of the _Minerva's_ bridge. The plastic explosives she planted beneath the crew pits had done their work, wreaking havoc on the control room. Besides the flickering fire, the bridge was still.

Then she noticed a blurry shadow looming over her sprawled form. Bright light glinted off the side of a long, silver object hovering above her. Vixy gasped. Using every ounce of strength she could muster, she rolled to the side—a mere instant before the blade sung through the air and lodged in the floor grating where her body had lain. Vixy found herself now resting in a pile of broken safety glass. She tried her best to rise to a defensive crouch, but the pain in her skull kept her dizzy and off-balance, chaining her to the ground.

Ragged breathing reached her ears, and slowly the shadow before her materialized into Captain Gladys.

The ermine let loose a series of slurred oaths. She planted one booted foot against the grating near her trapped blade and wrenched it free with some difficulty—a gender-bent retelling of Excalibur. She spun like a drunken man to face Vixy, revealing the extent of her own wounds. Much of her maroon fur was blackened like charcoal. But most notably a large piece of shredded metal protruded from her chest, making her wince with each breath. A glistening scarlet swath soaked her once luxurious kimono around the wound. It was clear Gladys didn't have long to live, but for what she had in mind… it was long enough.

Clutching her bisento in both hands, she used the staff portion of the weapon like a crutch and hobbled towards Vixy. From the desperate gleam in her eye, Vixy knew she would be using the bladed end before long.

"You loose cunt… your idiocy did this to us." Every so often she paused to take a ragged breath. "If only you'd been a bit quicker and disabled your trap when you still had the chance… but now we're both here, inches from hell. So what do we do while we await death? Tell stories? Mourn the dead? Fuck? …or do I make you pay for your transgressions against me?"

Vixy began crawling backwards, keeping a warry eye on her assailant. "Please Gladys, what does it matter anymore? You've got nothing to gain by this!"

Gladys paused to cough into her paw. When she removed her hand and looked into it, it was stained with flecks of blood.

"Correction: I've got nothing to lose," she said with a big shit-eating grin.

Before Vixy could escape to safety, Gladys was upon her. The stoat slammed her foot down on Vixy's stomach, pinning her to the ground.

"I think I might carve you open like you dissect those Aquans. I always love learning about my friends' hobbies. But where to start…"

The Captain drew her bisento back and plunged it at Vixy's right arm. The fox managed to draw it into her chest at the last moment, just barely saving her arm.

"Gladys, I never did any of that! I only helped with the chemical!"

"Oh I don't judge, sweetie. After all, I've done the same to my men. Only, unlike you and Andross… my subjects are usually still alive." She grinned and stabbed the blade downwards, but missed Vixy a second time. "Only I'm beginning to see the advantages of having them dead. Stop squirming!"

The third strike finally caught Vixy's arm, and though it merely scraped off a portion of flesh, it still elicited an ear-curdling scream from the vixen.

"Now-now Vixy, it's for _science_!" she mocked.

Gladys applied extra pressure to Vixy's stomach in order to wrench the blade from her arm, but in doing so she lurched backwards from the recoil. Vixy used the opportunity to slide out from under her and roll away. Glancing around desperately, she zeroed in on one of the fallen, lifeless pirates.

"I don't think you know how much Bayoon means to me!" Gladys exclaimed, stalking towards her. The bisento blade dragged on the floor, leaving a trail of Vixy's blood and emitting an ear-splitting screech. "I didn't escape from the Cornerians just to die in a cave a month later. I escaped for a _reason_. But now you and your lover have robbed that from me. See, I do have a reason for killing you. Even if you had little agency in all this—this destruction of the Pirate Empire—Andross _did_. Unfortunately there's thousands of kilometers of space and solid crust between us two, so I'll have to poke needles into his little voodoo doll: you. By killing you, I'll hurt _him_."

"Andross never really loved me!" Vixy spat. "At least not anymore. I betrayed him just now. I was helping the Cornerians—he knew nothing about my plans! So please, killing me won't get back at him!"

Gladys stopped above Vixy. "You mean… he didn't order you to assassinate me?"

Vixy shook her head. "No, that was the lynx's idea! She called the Cornerians here, too."

"Oh…" Gladys swayed in place for a moment. "Well regardless, you still tried to kill me. So—"

As Vixy pathetically tried to roll away again, the Captain brought the spear down, catching her tail. Vixy whimpered, finding herself caught in place: the corpse of the pirate just out of reach. Gladys began twisting her weapon around its axis. She didn't talk anymore, nor taunt Vixy. Her deep, broken breaths only increased in intensity. She panted faster and faster with a mad glow in her eye. It must've excited her, knowing she herself was so close to death.

Vixy strained against the bisento, but the more she pulled against her tail the more it stung. Finally with a scream and one last herculean pull, she painfully tore her tail free and lunged forward. In an instant she was upon the fallen pirate's body. By the team Gladys realized what had happened, she was staring down the dark barrel of a blaster.

"I'm… I'm kind of sorry for you," Vixy blurted out. Fear and panic made her eyes tremble.

"You are?" Gladys murmured. She cocked her head. "Whatever for?"

Vixy's only response was to jam her eyes closed and pull the trigger. A hole opened in the Captain's head, and her body slowly teetered backwards. All of her exotic clothing billowed in the air as she fell, then settled around her as falling petals. She lay still on the floor like a butterfly spread open and pinned to a wall. Even with her gaping wounds, there was something still pretty about her.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Vixy dropped her blaster to the floor. She tried to stand again, but was overcome with dizziness. Instead she crawled across the wreckage-strewn floor of the bridge. She passed Gladys' sleeping form and arrived at a control console—the original operator of which sat burned to a crisp before it. She ignored the corpse and set upon the controls.

Vixy found it hard to stay conscious. The headache in the back of her skull only grew worse with time; the waves of pain more frequent. But she had to stay alive—she couldn't rest yet. There was still one more thing she had to do.

It felt like operating machinery in a dream, with how light and airy she felt. If she didn't know better, she'd think she was floating. But she pressed on, going through the motions of controlling the ship. Locking onto her target, Vixy directed the _Minerva_ to a new flightpath.

 _This will fix everything,_ she thought to herself.

With her work done and her strength failing, Vixy collapsed onto the control panel and slid to the floor. The last sensation she felt was the rumbling of engines through the floor, against her cheek, and the _Minerva_ slowly accelerating.

Before long, the floating turned to soaring.

* * *

⦓⓪⦔

* * *

 _Under Bacoon's watchful gaze, Miyu almost had herself freed. Unconscious that she was about to saw through the necklace in the real world, she viciously attacked the chains binding her to the pile of dead selves. In the moment the bodies were only a weight holding her back from her sister, who had disappeared into the woods. In a few seconds she would be free to escape and live in the solace of her past. Forever._

 _As she hacked away at her bindings, Miyu caught sight of her own reflection in the dagger's onyx hilt. It gave her pause, seeing herself. Unlike all the other representations of her, this one was alive. She couldn't explain why, but she stopped and stared at it. Something about her face was off… the eyepatch?_

 _The black patch of fabric stood out among her other facial features, grabbing her attention. This knife she held… it had done this to her. Even overcoming the regenerative abilities of the necklace, it had wounded her through all planes of time and space, no matter how many times she got to start over. So if she used that same blade on the necklace…_

 _Miyu teetered backwards, clenching her eye shut to clear her head. Everything_ seemed _to make sense with the way the dream worked. But the harder she thought the more she began to see the holes in the twisted logic. The more she tried, the more her conscious was clouded with the shadows of the dream._

" _Wait a minute."_

 _She stumbled back, nearly dropping the dagger._

" _This is all wrong. Everything's not what it's supposed to be. It's all switched around. This necklace—it's supposed to save me. It's never once held me back. I-I never would have gotten this far without it. Then why," she lifted the chains hanging off her arms, making them clink and rattle, "why are they so heavy? It's not right. And this dagger? What has it caused me besides pain? When have I ever used it for good? Or my sister. Am I wrong, or… or did she nearly have me jumping off a cliff?!"_

 _She vigorously shook her head again. "This isn't real. I've always known that, but it's not even a real_ representation." _She looked up at the sky, from which Bacoon's bulbous golden eye gaped down at her. She pointed an accusatory finger. "_ This _is how you lie! This is how you control me, and everyone you sink your claws into. I've figured you out—it all makes sense! You don't control people's minds. You show them visions; disguising what you want as what_ they _want. It's your way of changing their reality! But it won't work on me. I… I see through you."_

 _Bacoon's massive lids blinked._

 _Miyu looked down, gesturing around herself. "You see all of these? All these versions of—hehe…" Miyu couldn't help but giggle. She scratched her ear. "You know, it's kind of sickening and gruesome, but… it's kind of goofy. Like, isn't it silly? It's just so over-the-top. The sight of hundreds of my own dead body piled around me. Like that one—she's got her mouth hanging open like 'bleughhh!' Oh my god that must've been painful. And yet, you know what?" She looked back up at Bacoon. "Every new body you add to the pile is just another example of your own failures to truly off me. Sure, I might've messed up and gotten myself killed, but it means you couldn't kill me either—at least not forever. All these bodies lying around here, and yet here I am, still standing, heart beating, breathing. Alive. I think… I think_ you're _just as afraid of all these bodies as I am."_

 _Bacoon's eye blinked again. Was it her, or was his pupil shrinking?_

 _Miyu began climbing the pile of bodies, hoping to get closer to the monster. "What you fear most is… me. You fear how many times I'll come back; eventually I'll get lucky and kill you. Now that I know what you are, where you're hiding, and how you operate, I'm banking on the fact that that'll be sooner rather than later."_

 _Bacoon sent even more bodies her way, but all they did was create a jumbled heap that towered up like a staircase to meet him. A tower that Miyu happily climbed._

" _I may be just a trickle at first. But if I keep trying, I will drown you in my blood through sheer repetition. And there's nothing. You can do. To stop me!"_

 _When she made it to the top of the mountain, she was mere feet from the glassy dome of Bacoon's eye._

" _Now, like I said…"_

 _Miyu reached up and slowly removed the black patch over her missing eye. She let it drop out of sight, fluttering in the breeze as it fell._

"… _meet me eye-to-eye, monster."_

 _In an instant, Bacoon's pupil constricted so much that it shrank to the size of her head. In the black void, Miyu could see herself reflected back. She focused on her exposed eye cavity, realizing something else was there. Replacing her ruined eye was the shell-pendent, only now the hand-shaped nacre was as reflective as a mirror. Not a single scratch or speck blemished its crystal surface. And within that pendent, she saw Bacoon's eye mirrored yet again. In fact, the two clear surfaces went back and forth reflecting the light of Bacoon's destructive gaze, effectively creating a feedback loop that stretched into infinity. Miyu felt she could lose herself in the expansive space they created together._

 _A high-pitched noise tickled her ears. It began climbing in volume, layering over and constantly devouring itself, growing stronger with each passing moment. It was like the ear-ringing feedback from a microphone. Soon it felt loud and piercing enough to tear her brain apart, but even then Miyu held Bacoon's gaze. The longer she had him distracted, the wider the opening for—_

Bacoon's eye gushed blood. Like a Christmas tree ornament, it shattered open and began leaking a waterfall of ocular matter. Only he and Miyu weren't in his playground of twisted dreams anymore. They were back in the real world, awake. Miyu looked around in a hurried effort to gather her senses. There Bacoon was in front of her, bigger than he even was in the vision, only now a massive, cylindrical cruiser was protruding from his eye. The rear end of the _Minerva_ jutted out—the front lost to sight as it was buried deep into his iris. And still the engines flared, inching it deeper in and slowly pressing them both out of orbit.

Miyu looked down, remembering that she had stepped out onto the nose of her interceptor. Stomach churning, she momentarily lost her balance and flailed her arms like a pair of windmills to keep from falling. But with two shaky steps back she returned to the safety of her cockpit.

" _Miyu, we did it!"_ Fay exclaimed. _"Look, the flagship just gouged his eye out! ...Ew, gross…"_

Cheers and victorious hollers erupted over the comm network when they saw Gladys' flagship embedded in the sea god. Though the other three battleships were still unharmed, the sight of Bacoon dying and the wreck of their Captain's cruiser stabbed fear into the pirates' hearts. With no clear orders from Gladys, they turned tail and raced for the exit gates.

" _Yee-haw!"_ Amos bellowed. _"We did it again boys! We defended Bayoon against those mangy piratin' ***** sons of ****** with their ***** shoved up their ***** asses!"_ The bull frog's triumphant bragging continued with a series of unrprintable specist-slurs against the pirates.

Miyu looked up to see Fay's interceptor pull in close to her _Sveno._ She was surprised to see it hovering over her until Fay got out and jumped down into her cockpit, where she immediately embraced her friend.

"F-Fay! What are you doing?! Couldn't this wait?!"

"Nuh-uh!" Fay wrapped her arms around Miyu and pecked her on the cheek. "Not after an awful event like that! You have no idea how awesome you looked! The way you had that staring-contest with Bacoon and distracted him! All while Vixy took over Gladys' ship and rammed it into him! Just, wow! And _oh my god you had me so worried_! Never _ever_ do something like that again!"

Miyu breathed a big sigh of relief, happily returning Fay's embrace. "Hey, I'd be disappointed if you _didn't_ worry yourself to death over me. I'm sure you did a fantastic job of protecting me Fay. I was just asleep through all of… it…"

Her eye had drifted back to Gladys' smoldering battleship, the front of which was in ruins. Slowly her cause for celebration evaporated.

"Oh no… oh sh-sh-shit…"

"What?" Fay looked up, a tinge of worry in her voice.

"Vixy!"

* * *

⦓⊗⦔

* * *

Andross grimaced at the yellow chemical he was observing via microscope. "Well… it'll do."

While not completely satisfied with the results of the latest formula, he had to settle for what he got. After tossing the microscope slide into a fire pit for waste, Andross removed his surgical gloves. He scooped up all his papers of scribbled notes and shoved them with his laptop into a brown leather briefcase. He had forgone most precautions, placing timeliness over safety while working in the lab. He hadn't even worn the standard hazmat suit while handling the formula. There just wasn't time.

Andross opened the laboratory doors and strode outside into the hall, curls and eddies of steam following him. He turned and began to walk towards the control room. He was on his own now; everyone had abandoned or betrayed him. The rest were enemies, or valued scientists he couldn't take with him. They might meet again sometime.

His PDU rang, and he sighed and answered it.

"Andross speaking. What is it now?"

" _Michael Holls, aboard the_ Minerva. _At least, what remains of the_ Minerva."

"Leave it to Gladys to be bested by a pathetic squad of Aquans. What's the complete situation?"

" _Well, it's not good. In fact sir, everything's gone completely wrong. Someone on the inside sabotaged the ship's bridge, then rammed us into Bacoon. I can't see much outside the porthole at this angle, but from what I can see it's not pretty. You may not believe this, but he finally opened his shell!"_

Andross scratched his chin. "Hmm. Pity he didn't open up sooner—it made studying him a chore. But you said the bridge was destroyed? Tell me, did Gladys survive?"

" _With the state it's in? Highly improbable."_

Andross could barely contain his glee. He did a little dance while walking down the hallway, his white lab coat swishing the floor. "If there was one good thing to come from all this, it's the death of that hag. Now tell me if you've run into Dr. Reinard?"

" _I had the displeasure of encountering her, yes. In fact I think she's the one who sabotaged the bridge and killed Bacoon._ _She snuck up on myself and Parsons in the gate control room. Knocked us out with some home-brew sleeping agent. When I came to I found the warp gates locked open and the rest of the ship in the aforementioned state."_

"Well? Is she alive?!"

" _I… I doubt it, sir. No one got out of that alive."_

Andross slowed, his little victory dance abruptly ending. He came to a stop in front of a wide observation window that looked down through the clouds at Badwash below. But he was staring _through_ the clouds and moon.

"That is… mildly unfortunate. _Mildly unfortunate indeed,"_ he whispered. "No matter. She was just a passing infatuation of mine. I should have known never to let love distract from my work. But I know better now. Notify all remaining scientists who are still loyal to me. We will regroup on Titania and reopen the facilities there."

Andross continued staring out the viewing window, trying to distract himself from Vixy's death. But the clouds only provided a blank slate onto which he projected images of her.

Pirate vessels began materializing around Lagrange, having passed through the warp gates inside the moon. They split off in every direction, scattering like roaches exposed beneath a lifted stone.

Then, in an instant, a shadow fell over Lagrange, and a large swath of clouds was split aside. Five Cornerian battlecruisers—lead by the Consulate General's flagship itself—had just left hyperspace to surround Lagrange. Like gnats, the tiny specks of pirate fighters became confused and buzzed in helpless circles. Cornerian ships corralled them into groups, while the few desperate pirates who tried to slip past were mercilessly gunned down by the battleships.

The Consulate General's flagship almost never left Corneria. It belonged to the First Cadre of the CDF and up to that point rarely engaged in military conflicts. General Pepper could only have left planetside for a few reasons. The first being his daughter was in trouble. The second: he had discovered Gladys, or worse— _him_. This was a case of all three.

"Holls, I don't mean to alarm you, but the Cornerians have arrived. Do your best to escape with some pirates, but if you're caught—which is most likely—claim they forced you into it. Given that it's true for other scientists, it's a more than plausible alibi. Try to seek reassignment to Titania, and find me."

" _Yes sir. I will relay that information to the rest of your followers. Good luck, Dr. Bowman."_

And with that, Andross ended the call. He slipped his PDU back into his coat and was about to start walking again when two ships flashed by the observatory on vertical trajectories. He reflexively jumped back. They were only visible for a few milliseconds, but even then Andross was able to make out their angular design and white-and-blue color scheme.

"Of course it's _him_."

The simian spun away from the viewport, coat billowing behind him. With a quick step just short of running, he marched the rest of the way to Lagrange's control room. It was the lowest level room, sitting at the bottom of Lagrange Rock with a curved glass dome that opened to Bayoon below. The wall of clouds and emerald forests provided enough light to brighten the ceiling of the room.

Andross hurried across the steel walkways bridging the glass dome to the control unit at the center. He sat in one of the computer chairs and set his briefcase down on the adjacent desk, rolling up his sleeves before setting to work entering the necessary security codes. While he was done with this place, he had no intention of letting any of his work fall into Cornerian hands. The original plan was to finish the experiments and cleanly wipeout the town without any sign of his hand in the matter, but their premature discovery made that impossible. The lynx knew too much. The rest of his trapped scientists knew too much. Legacy versions of his chemical were floating around Badwash, and they had found out the location of Bacoon. There were too many assets to hide, and not enough hands or time to do it. He had to resort to extreme measures.

Like dropping Lagrange Rock on Bayoon.

While Andross and his research team had found the moonlet in a stable orbit between Bayoon and Aquas, they needed to take safety precautions. If one of the construction ships or a pirate cruiser so much as nudged the satellite, it might exponentially pick up speed, leave its orbit, and plummet to either Aquas or Bayoon. To avoid this, Andross had a team of engineers install rocket-propelled stabilizers on the outside of the moonlet. Normally the thrusters would automatically fire and correct the satellite's orbit if it drifted too far. But now that was exactly what Andross had in mind. As he typed away on the monitor, he almost giddily imagined Lagrange Rock falling from the sky like a meteor, smashing into Badwash, and tunneling straight through the thin crust until the entire moon split apart and collapsed. Not even the ancient technology installed in the underwater temple could hold the moon together under such strain.

"Well-well, I thought a scumbag like you would've turned tail and run by now."

Andross' ear twitched, and he looked up from the monitor. Behind him, at the end of the walkway spanning the observation floor, was the figure that perhaps scared him the most. Andross knew his features well: the white flight jacket with the rolled up sleeves, the swaggering stance, the red scarf, and those taunting sunglasses. Andross prided himself in being able to read visual cues in faces, but those damned sunglasses never let him get a read on this particular vulpine.

"You're too late, James." Andross reached into his pocket and began fishing out a small packet. With one fluid motion he popped the pill out and raised it to his mouth, but in the next second his wrist flew back, dropping the pill, and he felt a horrific burning sensation in his hand. He grunted, glaring back at James who held a smoking blaster.

"Ah-ah-ah, Pepper told me you might do that. Suicide is the way of a coward, Andross. You have to face what you've done."

Andross snarled and turned back to the monitor, typing as quickly as he could with a wounded hand, but in a flash James was upon him. The mercenary spun his chair around and planted his foot right on the seat between Andross' legs. With one hand he grabbed the primate's neck in an iron grip, forcing his head back against the desk. With the other he shoved the muzzle of his blaster into Andross' flat face.

"Now tell me," James growled, lowering his glasses, "where is my _wife_?"

It was almost more than Andross could stand. Being subjected to Pepper's authority was bad enough, but it was a constant pain even working under Gladys, and now the husband of his infatuation had him by the throat. It was all too much. But at least he had the last laugh.

It came involuntarily. It started as a chuckle in the back of his throat. Soon however, it was a full-on maniacal laugh.

He stared into James' bewildered eyes, and cried.

* * *

⦓⊗⦔

* * *

It was utter chaos aboard the _Minerva;_ a mad struggle to escape the doomed ship. With the head of the pirates cut-off, the remaining crew aboard Gladys' flagship lost all manner of cohesion. All that was left for them was to make a mad dash to the hangar and hope they could claim a ride aboard a fighter or transport shuttle that still remained. Miyu and Fay, however, went against the flow. They dodged their way through the corridors, working ever closer to the front of the ship. The pirates paid them no mind; it was every man for himself, and no one had time to stop and question why two young mercenaries were headed in the opposite direction. Their only priority was self-preservation and escape.

"Do you think Vixy's still alive?" Fay asked from behind Miyu, running in her wake.

"I hope so, Fay. We owe her our lives. Everyone in Badwash owes her their life! We just have to keep hope that she survived. Somehow."

Miyu hated to admit it, but she knew the odds of Vixy living were miniscule. Still, she had to have survived the initial explosion, or the ship wouldn't have sailed itself into Bacoon's eye. Unless that part was just a fluke.

Fay sniffed behind her. "That would be really awful if she saved all these people and ended up… dead. Imagine giving your life for something, knowing you wouldn't be around to see the results—the smiling faces that would greet you afterwards."

"Yeah..." While running through the halls, Miyu clutched her necklace, thinking back on each time she died to solve the mystery of Badwash and defeat Bacoon. Even if no one else remembered, she was still successful in the end. But if Vixy was dead… was it really a victory?

Her heart beat faster as she considered it.

Even if there was one more person she could save—just _one_ more—was it her responsibility to kill herself and try again? Was it her moral obligation to keep trying until _everyone_ possible was saved?

She shook her head emphatically, dislodging the thought from her head.

No, it was too risky. They had performed as good as could be expected during this run, and any attempt to make things better had a high chance of backfiring and making things worse. What if Bacoon retained his memories and would be ready for Miyu's trump card? How would Andross act differently the next time knowing that he lost?

The _Minerva's_ intercom buzzed, followed by the gruff, no-nonsense voice of a hound dog.

" _This is Consulate General Pepper of the Cornerian Defense Force. We have you surrounded with a far greater force than you can hope to defeat or even evade. Resistance is futile, and attempts at escape will not be tolerated. Surrender now, while it is in your best interest. I repeat, this is Consulate General Pepper of the…"_

"Yes! Uncle finally came!" Fay cheered behind her. "He'll show these pirates!"

"About time," Miyu smiled to herself. "But we still have to find Vixy! We have to hurry before—"

Miyu came to an abrupt halt, causing Fay to inadvertently run into her.

"Ow! Hey, what's wrong?"

The lynx had just passed the ship's med bay, in which she thought she recognized someone.

"Fay, I… I have to check on something. You just keep on going to the bridge—I'll meet you there soon."

Fay cocked her head. "You sure?"

"Uh-huh. I'll be fine, I just need a moment."

"Oh… okay. But don't take too long!"

The spaniel resumed sprinting down the passageway, and Miyu watched her red bow and tail bobbing up and down. When she disappeared through the door hatch, Miyu returned to the med bay she previously passed and looked in.

Sure enough, there was the pantheress. Cira looked like she had just woken up from a fitful sleep, and was sitting on the edge of her hospital bunk, dazed. She was only dressed in a white tank-top and underwear shorts, having shed her usual catsuit. A copious amount of bandages covered her neck, and an IV stand next to her bed trickled a steady stream of blood into a needle in her arm.

Miyu stepped around the window and into the med bay. "C-Cira?"

The jet-black feline looked up, but it took awhile for her eyes to focus and realize it was Miyu. Did she have an operation? Recovering from anesthesia? Whatever the case, when she recognized Miyu she hissed and crawled back onto her bed, crouching in a defensive position. She looked ready to spring at Miyu, even in her pathetic state.

"Cira, what happened to your neck?"

She opened her mouth to respond, but winced. Only a hissing, hollow noise came out, without any semblance of words.

It was then that Miyu realized what had happened. She placed a paw over her missing eye as the memory came back. During their fall to Aquas, Miyu had slit her throat open with the same knife Cira used to stab her eye. The ornamental dagger that left eternal wounds, even after the resets.

This was her doing.

Her heart went out to Cira in that moment. She couldn't bear seeing her like this. So feral and vicious, but also desperate; like a rat backed into a corner. She knew it was hopeless, but she still put on a farce of strength for Miyu, threatening her. It was likely she couldn't do anything in her present state. The IV stand effectively chained her to the bed. She looked dizzy, and weak. And with the wound Miyu had dealt to her throat she couldn't even speak. It broke Miyu's heart that she still hated her so much, without even remembering that she had caused it.

Miyu slowly approached with tentative steps so as not to frighten her. "Cira, I'm so sorry. You don't know it, but I'm the cause of all this. I'm the reason your throat is slit. I'm the reason you had leave Fay and me and go solo. It's all my fault, but I want to make up for it. I don't care what bad blood there is between us, we got bigger shit to face _right now_. You can't escape this ship alone. So, are you with me?"

After a few seconds, the snarl on Cira's face began to soften, but it was a subtle change that Miyu nearly missed.

Without warning, the _Minerva_ rocked, shaking Miyu off-balance and throwing Cira onto the floor. When the pantheress regained her bearings, she looked up to see Miyu offering a helping hand.

"I don't got fucking time for this Cira. You're coming with me whether you want to or not. The difference is whether I help you or whether I drag you out. Now, _are you with me?"_

The animosity in Cira's expression was gone now, replaced by fear and disbelief. Reluctantly, she took Miyu's hand and was helped to her feet. Miyu snatched the blood bag off the IV stand and held it above her shoulder, careful to keep it elevated. With her other shoulder providing support to Cira, the two felines staggered out of the med bay and headed in the direction of the bridge.

Besides their ragged breaths, the girls remained silent. Cira couldn't even talk if she wanted to, and Miyu had nothing left to say. The journey there was tense. Considering all the recent times they'd been at each others throats, it was hard for Miyu to feel safe around Cira.

Finally they arrived at the bridge, only to find a charred layer of soot covering the floors and walls outside the entrance hatch. The explosives Vixy used really did a number on it.

Miyu helped Cira climb through the hatch. Inside they found a truly horrifying sight: the front end of the _Minerva_ deeply embedded in Bacoon's eye. Layers of torn flesh curled back as the bridge penetrated inwards, and blood and other alien fluids dripped through the smashed glass to fill up the crew pits. The concentric disks of Bacoon's pupil were barely recognizable in their current butchered state; like someone had popped a fleshy balloon open.

Fay was kneeling over a crumpled body by one of the control modules. As Cira was making a steady recovery, Miyu abandoned her and rushed to Fay's side. The spaniel was crouched over Vixy's mangled form—bloodied and covered in streaks of ash. No sign of movement came from the vixen. Not even the rise and fall of her chest.

"Vixy! Vixy, are you alright? Fay how is she?!"

Fay shook her head, tears springing to her eyes. "I-I don't know! I just feel so helpless!"

Miyu checked her pulse, but her own excitedly-beating heart kept confusing her.

"Come on, it doesn't matter. Let's get her out of here before the ship sinks into the core!"

The two young mercenaries slung both of Vixy's arms over their shoulders, and ultimately had to drag her back through the ship. The four women crawled at a snail's pace to the hangar, and by the time they arrived at their destination every pirate aboard the _Minerva_ had already abandoned ship. Only a few shuttles and their two Katinese interceptors were left. Luckily the pirates hadn't run out of escape vessels, or they might've been desperate enough to break in and hotwire their fighters.

It was getting uncomfortably hot in the hangar. Warm air from outside constantly drifted in, signaling the ship's gradual descent into the core. It wouldn't be long until the temperatures reached the boiling point, cooking all life board the _Minerva_ before it and Bacoon even touched its molten surface.

Knowing this, they worked fast to board their ships. They gently laid Vixy in the back of Fay's _Meduza,_ while Miyu prompted Cira to get into her ship's own cargo hold. Then with the fiery core dangerously close, they lifted off and flew away from the hangar, steadily gaining altitude.

Once at a safe distance, Miyu paused and looked back at the combined wreckage of Bacoon and the _Minerva_ jutting out of him. The pair of monstrous entities fell as one; the excess stone melting from Bacoon's shell, and the hull plating on the flagship curling back from the heat. Then they dipped into the milky orange core, and burned with an intensity too bright to look at.

Miyu sighed deeply. A smile forced its way onto her lips.

"It's over," she told Fay.

"You have no idea how relieving it is to see him go…"


	16. New Day

_A/N_ _: You know the drill. Song's on my profile, and it syncs best with the story when eclipse comes. This chapter's basically the epilogue, but there will be another afterword chapter where I explain all the story's secrets, so keep an eye out!_

 **Chapter 16: New Day**

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Normally, Badwash was an uneventful region. Nothing ever happened in the boonies except for the occasional smuggler passing through, or a shoot-out between locals and a representative of the Cornerian Revenue Service. The last time anything of note happened at all was over fifty years ago, when the pirates first invaded. So naturally, every member of Badwash society—from the oldest veteran down to the youngest pollywog—wanted to croak about their brave deeds during the second Pirate Invasion.

And General Pepper did nothing to discourage them.

It was a full day after the defeat of Bacoon. The town elders decided to postpone the celebration of the Munzagoringu festival to the following day's eclipse. The colorful tents still stood as proud as ever, and delicious scents of local Aquan cuisine filled the air as before—in fact, it was hard for Miyu to distinguish the current day from the previous one at all.

The lynx stood on a raised concert platform originally intended for Aquan musicians to perform on. Miyu never liked public speaking, and she hated the sea of bulbous Aquan eyes staring at her and the others lined up on the stage—more heroic figures key in defending Badwash. Fay stood on one side of her, with Si the cameraman and Stephen Gills on the other. Behind them were Officer Merkel the head of the rangers, and Amos, leader of the "Badwash Brigade". At least the main focus was on Consulate General Cornelius Pepper, who proudly gripped the podium and spoke to the throng of native 'Yoons before them.

Miyu had already checked out of his long-winded and blustering speech a few seconds after he began. She stared around the fairgrounds, recognizing the Darling family in the audience—even if they wouldn't remember her. It was a shame, too; Amanda, their little pink-skinned daughter, seemed so anxious to get off Bayoon and explore the Lylat like Miyu and Fay. Then she spotted the old fortune-teller, Chasme Baddoor, looking as frazzled and wild-eyed as ever. Though she had been a big help, Miyu wasn't exactly itching to have her butt pinched again.

She knew DJ Okarin was holed up somewhere nearby. He had been playing songs over the festival's sound-system all morning. In fact, he only stopped when it came time for Pepper to commence the celebrations with his speech, and a squad of Cornerian soldiers had to force him to put his music on hold. Miyu was disappointed he wasn't up on the stage with them. Like everyone else she had met, he was a small but crucial piece to the puzzle and deserved recognition for it. Beyond that, he was a brave little hedgehog and a nice soul. But like others of his breed, he preferred to keep his distance and stay out of sight, hoping people would relate to him through his music.

Pepper abruptly raised his voice back to full volume, causing Miyu to flinch and return her attention to him. The more he spoke, the more Miyu zeroed in on his flapping jowls.

"…I commend the Badwash Division of the Forest Rangers, as well as the crew behind the hit show _Bear VS. Wild,_ of interplanetary acclaim, for their level-headed work during a time of crisis. They went above and beyond their duties as municipal servants and Cornerian citizens, respectively, to alert the people of Badwash to the dangers of yellow 60 lake. Moreover, they organized efforts to spread the word among rural families, mobilized the police force against local pockets of pirates, and exposed a dangerous ring of cultists known as 'The Society of the Third Eye'. I am sure we will all enjoy watching their documentation on _Bayoon Bushcraft Season II..._ title pending."

He paused as Stephen Gills stepped forward to flash a winning smile, followed by a rowdy Aquan calling out, "Drink yer own piss!"

Out of the corner of his smile, he whispered to Simon _, "Cut that out in post."_

"Now," Pepper continued, "for donning their wings and taking to the sky once again, it is my honor to thank the local heroes of the so-called 'Badwash Brigade', who I understand are somewhat of a local legend. For your daring foray into the heart of darkness—indeed, Bayoon's very core—I will recognize the Brigade as an honorary contingent of the Aquan provisional forces."

Officer Merkel whispered to Miyu and Fay, _"They were never officially part of the Provisionals. For how much they go on about their accomplishments during the first pirate war, their efforts went largely unnoticed."_

Miyu nodded knowingly.

"You valiant men can stand as a lesson to us all. Even—I am loathe to admit—my own Cornerian forces. I hope you can serve as inspiration to millions of Lylatian soldiers for generations and generations to come."

All through Pepper's praise, Amos' belly expanded and inflated to nearly ten-times its original size from how proud he was.

This time Pepper caught Miyu's eye specifically before speaking. "And let us not forget the courageous young women who are responsible for us even being here on this momentous day. I owe a tremendous amount of thanks to Miyu Tsukikage for her safe-keeping of my niece. Without her guidance, I am sure my niece would've forgotten to keep her head screwed on straight." Pepper narrowed his already sleepy eyes and stared Fay down, who blushed and turned away.

The General cleared his throat. "My niece personally called and informed me of the situation. More than that, she defended Ms. Tsukikage while she single-handedly held the full attention of that monster, Bacoon. I am sure both of you young ladies have a bright mercenary career ahead of you, and that PMCs and clients the System over will be standing in line to hire you. That is, if Fay can sneak out of the house again without my knowing. Oh yes dear, don't think I'd forgotten."

Fay sunk into the line of heroes, taking cover from her uncle's gaze behind Miyu.

"We must also honor Dr. Vixy McCloud, for exposing the dangers of yellow 60 lake, sabotaging the pirate's flagship, and dealing the killing blow to Bacoon. She lay down her life to avert the catastrophe befalling Badwash. Not many people are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the good of the people, but Dr. McCloud is one of them."

Pepper sighed deeply. "Indeed, it is a pity the hero cannot be here herself—she is recovering at the moment. A very resourceful woman, that Dr. McCloud."

Miyu's ear's stood on end. _McCloud?_ But she had said her name was Reinard… Could it be the same McCloud?

"Finally, I commend all the people of Badwash for keeping their heads in such a trying time as this. You truly have what is known as 'Badwash grit'. But I must apologize for what has befallen you here. I feel I owe you an explanation, as it is just as much my past failures as it is my present triumph. If the Cornerian army had completely annihilated the pirates at the Battle of Sector Z, they never would have invaded Badwash for a second time. And if I had kept a closer eye on Dr. Andross Bowman, this entire crisis could have been averted. While the pirate captain is dead at the hands of Dr. McCloud, her husband—who is also a mercenary—was fortunate enough to capture Bowman before he could escape."

At Pepper's signal, four Cornerian soldiers escorted a defeated, downtrodden simian to the front of the stage. Andross stood with slumped shoulders and ragged garb, glaring angrily at the crowd of Aquans before him. He was met with a variety of boos, hisses, and volleyed insults.

Pepper projected a holographic map of the Lylat System, which was mostly for show. It took up most of the concert stage—large enough for the audience to make out each individual planet. At the moment, the blue spheres of Corneria and Aquas orbited closest to Pepper, while a sickly yellow-colored planet hovered in front of Andross.

"Dr. Andross Bowman," Pepper harshly barked, "for blatantly disregarding basic Lylatian rights, conducting unethical experiments on live subjects, associating and abetting criminal pirates, plotting the bloody genocide of Badwash and, most heinous of all, the destruction of an entire moon, I hereby sentence you to a fate worse than death."

Andross looked up at the muddy orb floating in front of him. He couldn't hide the tears in his eyes.

"I exile you to the wasteland planet: Venom."

The doctor gritted his teeth, scowling across the map of the Lylat System at Pepper. He looked enviously at the pristine blue ball of Corneria, the golden glow of Venom reflecting in his jealous eyes.

The general waved his paw. "Take him away."

As the Cornerian guards dragged Andross to a waiting shuttle, the primate kicked and struggled.

"Hear me Pepper!" Andross called back, fighting for his moment on the stage, "and all you dimwitted Aquans and useful idiot _heroes!_ The secrets of the universe are ours for the taking. I made it my career—my life's goal, to reveal them to simple-minded folk like you. I uncovered Bacoon, a _god_ from another solar system, who had been lying dormant under your very noses. And this is the thanks I get? At every point Pepper and his Cornerian crony bureaucrats stood in my way.

"Legend tells of an ancient god who went against his brethren to give fire and technology to the lowly races of Lylat. I see now that he shouldn't have. He should have kept it for himself and ruled those lesser than him. I'm glad you're exiling me to Venom, because I can't stand being near you. At least on Venom there's no society constantly holding me back and dictating what is and isn't 'ethical'. Mark my words, I will rise—"

But a fist connected with Andross' face, cutting his tirade short. A vulpine figure wearing a pair of shades rubbed his skinned knuckles, stepping back to let the guards pass.

"Whoowee, sorry about that Andy. Just a parting gift from my wife."

Andross glared upwards at James, now bleeding from the nose.

"She says to tell you she was sorry she couldn't make it to your banishing ceremony." James grinned at him.

But before Andross could retort, the guards yanked him up the ramp and into the shuttle, the doors hissing shut behind them.

Pepper cleared his throat. "Yes, well, now that that matter has resolved itself, we can return to the celebrations. I have the assurance of several scientists—Dr. McCloud included—that yellow 60 lake is just as harmless as it ever was now that Bacoon is dead. So let the festivities commence, and enjoy your iconic yellow delicacies! …Can anyone point me to some funnel cake?"

Finally freed of Pepper's long-winded speech, the Aquans cheered and scattered, the younglings leading the charge. Miyu released a pent-up breath, feeling able to relax. But she wasn't out of it just yet. She tensed up again when Pepper started walking her way.

"So you're the amateur mercenary that inspired a rebellious streak in my niece, eh?" Pepper folded his arms and studied Miyu. "Well, I can't say that I approve of Fay running off with you to galivant around the galaxy, but considering how yesterday turned out, maybe it was for the best."

Fay rushed over to the hound dog, taking his arm. "Oh please Uncle, let me stay with Miyu! She takes good care of me and worries more than even Auntie does! She wouldn't let anything happen to me—ever!"

Miyu thought back to all the times Fay had been killed or zombified over the past few days. She gulped.

"Yeah, of-of course I kept her safe."

"I'm sorry for running away," Fay continued, pleading with those magical puppy-dog eyes. "But you gave me no other choice! It's so restrictive being the General's niece. I feel like I'm always wearing an iron collar. So I just had to run off without telling you. You wouldn't have understood!"

Pepper rubbed his temples and sighed. "You're right—I wouldn't have grasped how serious being a mercenary meant to you, or how badly I've kept you on a leash. Your running away opened my eyes to that. Really Fay, I must admit I had no confidence in your abilities as a pilot. Until now, that is!"

"I second that."

Pepper looked to his right, where James McCloud had just stepped into their little circle. That signature pair of sunglasses hid his eyes as usual, but his lips bore a cocky smile. "You don't mind if I butt in, General? You wouldn't want to stifle recruiting efforts in the public sector."

"One last thing, then I'll let you get to it," Pepper said, clapping James on the shoulder. Miyu was surprised by how friendly the two were; they were complete opposites in most regards. But from what Fay said about James rescuing her, it made sense.

"I wanted to thank you, Ms. Tsukikage, for keeping my niece… _relatively_ safe. Would you be interested in staying at my family estate on Zoness? It's better than most resorts you could book in the area, and I think you could use the rest after everything that happened."

Miyu nodded emphatically. "I sure could, General. I'd love to stay for awhile!"

Pepper smiled warmly. "Splendid! Find me after the festival ends. And don't let my daughter eat anything too uncivilized in the meantime!"

While Pepper marched away, James cleared his throat and filled in the gap he left. "So… Miyu and Fay, right? You girls flew some trial runs to join Star Fox awhile back. I know I turned you down then, but… I'd like to extend that offer once more. Your performance yesterday really speaks for itself, and I'm kinda ashamed I didn't see your potential back then. So, considering everything you've—"

"This is for saving your wife, isn't it?" Miyu interrupted.

James sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Er… it's that obvious, huh?"

Miyu nodded. "I know you want to repay us and all, but..."

"Oh no-no! It's not just the fact that you saved her; you were brave and resourceful and damn good pilots. Like the old hack said—er, sorry Fay—I don't doubt your skills anymore. I think you'd fit right in with Star Fox, but I'd be lying if I said saving Vixy didn't factor into it a _teensy-_ weensy bit. So… how about it?"

Miyu said nothing. Instead she turned and looked to Fay.

Realizing it was up to her, the spaniel's face lit up. She squealed and hopped up and down, but suddenly froze. Her expression changed, and she coughed into her paw, abruptly sobering. "I'd love to Mr. McCloud, but…" she leaned against Miyu and took her hand. "I think we're starting our own team now."

Miyu felt tears spring to her eye at Fay's gesture. The spaniel had always looked up to James, so turning down the chance to fly with her childhood hero for _Miyu_ instead meant so much to her.

"Heh, well I understand," James said. "The offer still stands if you ever change your mind, but I guess I'll quit networking and finish my other errands."

"Oh?" Miyu asked. "You have other business here?"

"Yeah. Even as a mercenary far from home, the missus still has me running shopping errands. I'm supposed to pick up some local dishes for my wife while she recovers in the hospital. Oh, and she's very thankful for everything you've done for her."

"Well we couldn't have done anything without her," Miyu assured James.

"Thanks again," James waved as he took off into the crowd. "Hope to see you girls around sometime!"

As soon as James disappeared among the Aquans, Miyu grabbed Fay and shouted, "You turned him _down?"_

"W-well yes! I thought we had something great going with our own team! Plus I don't think it would be the same taking orders from him and not you. Working for a boss is scarier than working for my best friend, right?"

"Oh, Fay you ditz," Miyu sniffed as she threw her arms around the canine. "You never have any sense, but I think I like you that way. I just… I just can't believe you chose me over James."

"What?! You have _that_ little faith in me?" Fay's tail wagged happily. "Who did I just raid Bayoon's core with? Who guided me every step of the way? And besides… who's tougher?" And she elbowed Miyu.

At first Miyu felt embarrassed, but then she embraced the idea. She caught Fay up in her arms and spun her around on the stage, laughing all the while.

When she stopped spinning and set Fay down, she noticed a raven with jet-black feathers waiting among the tents. He was well-dressed, and surrounded by personal aides. It was none other than Jetta Toré, their current contractor.

"Fay, I've just spotted our boss. I smell the sweet scent of money in the air."

"Sure that's not raw oysters?"

Miyu jabbed Fay's ribcage before jumping off the stage and grabbing a cart a Cornerian soldier was watching. It carried the same onyx-colored case they had stolen back from Cira in their first dogfight. Together they wheeled the case over to Jetta Toré's entourage.

The raven nodded upon their approach. "Well, I must say I never expected a little search for some antiques would snowball into a struggle for Bayoon's survival."

"If I had known what I was getting into, I never would've accepted the assignment," Miyu leveled with her employer.

"Well, I imagine I've accrued some extra expenses because of that, correct?" Toré smiled knowingly. "You'll be elated to know you're in for a rather large bonus. In fact, it dwarfs the original payment. That is, as long as all the items are here."

"Don't worry. We recovered most of the items pretty easily—early yesterday morning. The second necklace gave us the most trouble, as Dr. Andross got his hands on it."

"Let's see…" Toré removed the lid from the case, comparing the items contained within to the list displayed on his tablet.

"Both necklaces, three choral statuettes, and the kukri. Splendid, that's everything!"

They both pulled out their PDUs, but Miyu paused before he could transfer the money. "You know Mr. Toré, there's one more thing I'd like to ask for."

"Oh? Name it."

"That pantheress who stole these items… were you going to press charges?"

"Well of course! Thieves can't just run around Lylat unchecked."

"I was wondering if… if you wouldn't do that."

The raven cocked his head. "Why not?"

"She's, well, an old friend of ours. We had a falling out a year ago, so in a way we're responsible for her actions. If we had stuck together like teammates should, she wouldn't have stolen the artifacts and we'd never be in this mess to begin with."

Toré scratched his head feathers. "I see. Well, I don't in any way benefit from her punishment, so I don't see why I couldn't ignore it. As long as you see to it that she doesn't steal again, hmm?"

"I'll try to rein her in," Miyu assured him.

After transferring the payment and hefty bonus to Miyu and Fay's joint account, Jetta Toré thanked them once again and left with the artifacts safely returned to his possession.

Once Toré was out of earshot, Fay asked, "Why didn't you tell him about the artifacts' magical properties? I think he deserves knowing after that bonus."

"I'm sure he and the Cornerians will find out eventually. That is, if they watch Bayoon Bushcraft." Miyu began droning on in a bored voice, "I'd hate having to answer all these questions about how the artifacts worked and what I used them for, and then they'd have me conduct experiments with them and I'd have all these tests and doctors examining me, and then there's the question of who owns them: Toré, the Cornerian government, the Aquans, or even _me_ , since, as the fortune-teller said, the necklace 'chose' me. I just don't want to be involved in this mess anymore."

"Yeah," Fay sighed, "I can understand why."

The girls stood awkwardly in place, glancing around the fair. It seemed like everything had been taken care of. They'd said goodbye to most of their new Bayoon friends, they'd been rewarded by Pepper, and they'd fulfilled their contract. Standing in the middle of the bustling fairgrounds, they felt a bit lost and purposeless.

"So…" Fay trailed off, "what now?"

In the awkward silence that followed, a shadow fell over the Munzagoringu festival, darkening the colorful tents. Like fireflies, little treats and delicacies whisked around the fair by Aquans lit up in the twilight.

Miyu looked back at Fay. "Well, I guess we enjoy the festival…"

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After making the rounds about the fair, Miyu and Fay retreated to what seemed to be the only quiet spot in Badwash Harbor; their hideaway beneath the stairs. It was the same place Miyu had hidden with Fay when she first experienced the "resets". The harbor's wooden docks rose roughly ten feet above the ground, meaning when they ended at the beach a flight of stairs had to lead down. This is where they now resided; leaning against an old, rotten railing that seemed to be an afterthought given its out-of-the-way location.

Miyu found it strangely easy to unwind. She no longer had the threat of Cira, the pirates, swamp monsters, or even Bacoon looming over her. Though she was tempted to feel restless, she did her best to brush those feelings aside and enjoy her quiet moment with Fay. She enjoyed being out of the public eye, away from the crowds, not having to accept thanks from grateful Aquans or talk with people she'd met. Now there was only peaceful silence. The gentle waves from the lake lapped against the underside of the wharf. Sapphire blue light from Aquas reflected off the water and danced across the wooden boards above them. The stars poked through the dark blue sky of the eclipse, peppering the water like spilled sugar crystals. The only sources of artificial light were the warm lanterns atop fishing boats, gliding across the lake in the distance, or the streetlights pouring an orange glow through the cracks in the planks above them. And of course, the mysterious lemon-yellow aura emanating from the snow-cones Miyu and Fay absently licked.

"You sure you feel okay eating that?"

Miyu was conscious of how close Fay was, given how her warm breath sometimes ruffled her fur to combat the cool lake breeze. She looked up at Fay, marveling at how ghostly her face looked in the neon wash of her snow-cone.

"Of course. The ice cream tasted great when I first ate it. I couldn't pass up seconds."

"Well, I mean with Bacoon mind-controlling you and all. You aren't like, uneasy about eating that yellow stuff?"

"Nah." Miyu dragged her tongue up the dome of the snow-cone, experiencing a sequence of biting cold, then puckering sour, then surprising sweet. "Well, maybe a little. But I don't want anything that happened previously to ruin any more of my life than it already has. If I do, it's actually won—not me. I don't want it spoiling ice cream forever, or even water. It would suck if every time I went for a swim or took a bath or hell, got up in the middle of the night for a glass of water, I was reminded of Bacoon. I want water to be a good thing. So, I've made up my mind to force myself to enjoy it again."

"Huh. Seems like a lot of work, but I like your attitude!"

They returned to eating their snow-cones in silence.

Miyu watched as Fay tipped her paper cone in the air, dumping what was left of the syrup and ice into her mouth. When she was done she sighed a chilled breath of air, and Miyu giggled.

"What? Why are you staring at me?"

"You've uh, got a little something on your face."

"Huh?"

Fay had a veritable glow-in-the-dark mustache above her top lip.

"Here, let me get it for you." Taking off one of her fingerless gloves, Miyu used her paw to clean the frozen dessert from Fay's mouth, all while she flinched and closed her eyes. "There! You look perfect princess."

"Thanks, I guess."

When the ensuing silence began to drag on for too long, Fay spoke up. "You know, that sure was a nice thing you did for Cira. I think out of this whole ordeal, that was what bothered me the most."

"Hmm?" Miyu purred, watching one sailboats pass.

"I'm just sad she had to be one of the bad guys in this mess. Who knows. Maybe we could've been the ones hired to steal those artifacts. But regardless," she took Miyu's hand, "I'm glad you saved her. And that was a great thing you did when you asked our boss to let her go."

"Heh, well, like he said, her punishment didn't have any benefit to us, so why go through with it? Plus I can't tell you how much I appreciated your gesture when you turned down James. That… got to me."

Fay chuckled pleasantly. "I'm sure that's not the _only_ reason you forgave her. I know you care for her just as much as I do. You've still got that team leader streak in you that makes you look out for everyone, even if you don't have a team!"

"You think so, huh?" Miyu chuckled. She folded her arms and leaned on the railing. "I wonder what Cira will do from now on."

Precisely on cue, a figure seeped out from the shadows and startled the two girls. She leaned on the railing on the opposite side of a support pole from Miyu.

"Cira!" Fay exclaimed. "Don't scare me like that!"

"I thought you were recovering in the hospital?"

After a few moments of silence, Cira nodded. A tell-tale white bandage shown around her neck, where Miyu had sliced it with the ceremonial knife earlier. Right now it was towards the end of the eclipse, and the pale blue twilight was bright enough to illuminate the features in her dark-furred face.

"Cira," Miyu asked, "can you talk?"

A shake from her head.

"Will you _ever_ be able to talk again?"

A longer pause, then another head-shake.

"Oh… that's rough. I'm so sorry."

The other feline suddenly knelt to her haunches. She began tracing lines in the sand piled up on the service deck. By the dim orange light from the overhead streetlamps, they were able to read what she wrote.

 _There are other ways to be heard._

"That's right!" Fay excitedly agreed. "You can type out your messages, use text-to-speech, or get surgery, or any number of things! You won't be helpless for long."

With a few deft swipes of her tail, Cira erased the message in the sand, then composed a second.

 _I don't like talking anyway._

"Yeah, you were always an introvert at that," Miyu said. When no one said anything else, she shifted on her feet. "Look, Cira, there's a lot that happened that I'm sure neither of us would be proud of. Some things you wouldn't even remember, because I'm the only one who kept my memories after the resets. Ha, I'm kinda glad you don't remember in this case. But I don't want any of that to come between us. It's behind us now. Much of it didn't even happen in this… _time._ Ugh, I'm not making much sense. But my point is… if you wanted your spot back on our team, you're free to have it. We'd both love to have you again, and-and it would make things right!"

But Cira shook her head, making Miyu the least bit frustrated.

"You don't have to feel sorry for what you did—I'm not trying to make you feel guilty by offering you this chance again. But if you don't think you deserve a spot back on our team, or you're too ashamed to… you know what, screw that. If you feel bad about what you did, the best way you could make up for it is by joining us. It's what'll make _us_ feel happy again! You _owe_ it to us to rejoin—"

Cira smiled sadly, then returned to writing in the sand. By now the sky was a vibrant pink as the sun prepared to rise above the horizon's lip, making the letters easier to read.

 _Not everything has to be the same as it was before_

…

 _We'll be happier moving on_

…

 _I love both of you, and I don't deserve your forgiveness, but_

…

A tear fell from Cira's eye, darkening the sand next to her traced letters. She couldn't keep writing.

Feeling a rock in her throat, Miyu nodded. She knew where she was going.

Cira hugged both girls at the same time, taking a moment to rest her head on their shoulders.

It was tough saying goodbye.

Cira's grip slackened around them, and she let her arms fall limp at her sides. With some difficulty she pulled herself away, then wordlessly turned to leave.

When it finally sank into Miyu that she was actually going, she called out, "Hey, don't get into too much trouble without us!"

But Fay's words seemed more meaningful. "It's lonely out there in space, so make some friends!"

Cira paused to smile back at them, then crouched to write something in the sand on the beach. Once finished, she jumped up the stairs and disappeared onto the deck above them.

Glancing at each other for a moment, Miyu and Fay took off to escape the wharf's shadow. They slid to a stop by Cira's markings, peering back up the steps in the direction she had gone. But they couldn't find a trace of her. As quickly as she appeared, she vanished.

While the sun peaked above the horizon and washed the shore in cool orange light, they looked down at her words in the sand.

 _It's a new day_

* * *

)✹◯

* * *

Munzagoringu ended with the passing of the eclipse. That afternoon the girls took a ferry with General Pepper to the Cornerian Battlecruisers, which were moored on the lake. Miyu would never forget the sight of the rainbow, pastel-painted stucco buildings bathed in the golden afternoon sun. Sailing across the waves, it really was the perfect angle from which Badwash Harbor was _meant_ to be seen. While running around Badwash Bayou like headless chickens, they really had missed the forest for the trees.

Fay's uncle couldn't escape his duties as Consulate General for the moment, so he sent them off alone to their family's summer home on Zoness. Miyu and Fay enjoyed the vacation, taking the chance to meet the spaniel's aunt (who wasn't exactly thrilled to see Miyu, the cause of Fay's rebellion, but given the circumstances was rather accepting).

Miyu had never seen a tropical island before—only on postcards and in travel brochures—so Fay made sure to expose her to the sweet sea air and equatorial sun as much as possible. The beaches were more pristine than those of Badwash Bayou: the sands pearly-white and soft, the water aquamarine, and the breezy palm leaves a vibrant, lime green. And best of all, they were privately owned by Fay's family, meaning they'd be undisturbed.

Now, reclining on beach chairs and towels beneath an umbrella, they finally found time to unwind in peace.

"You know, of everything bad that happened on Bayoon, I think the worst of it was this general feeling I had of being watched."

Fay lay on a blue beach towel beside her chair, scantily clad in a pink string bikini that revealed large swathes of bare fur. If either one of her parents caught her in such a state, she'd be grounded for a month. Miyu couldn't resist staring, which is exactly why she opted for a pair of sunglasses. They also helped conceal her eye patch.

"But you _were_ being watched," Fay mumbled sleepily. "There was that probe thingy you destroyed, remember?"

"Right, but it was much more than that. At first when I arrived I had the feeling every Aquan was watching me with those big amphibian eyes. Simon's camera didn't help, either. Cira stalked us for a good portion of it, and we had the entire pirate fleet ogling us like we were on some messed-up reality show. It was all secondary, though. I have a feeling that monster had his eye on me the entire time, even though he was asleep. That's how I knew he would focus on me when he awoke."

Fay shifted onto her side, propping her head up on her elbow. In the process the string bra failed to hold the weight of her left breast, and it slipped free from its mooring. Fay opened her mouth to respond, but Miyu let out an involuntary "Eep!"

"What?"

Miyu covered her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry! It's just," she pointed at Fay's chest, "with, um, your nipple and all, it kinda looks like an eye."

"An eye, huh?" Fay tried to get a good view of her exposed breast, but it was difficult looking down her torso. She could see how the plump white mound could be mistaken for an eye, and the fleshy pink teat protruding could be an iris. A mischievous grin flashed across her face, and she sat up. Fay quickly pulled her top the rest of the way off and jiggled her chest. "Miyu! They're watching you! The eyes are waaatching you!"

" _Stoooop!_ " Miyu squealed, covering her face with her hands. Though a pretty sight, she couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that came with it.

Instead of letting up, Fay hopped onto Miyu's beach chair and sat on her lap. She cupped her breasts in her paws, alternating them up and down like googly eyes. " _Shhh! Miyu, they seeee you!"_ she whispered.

"Aaaah!" Miyu tackled Fay back onto her towel, pinning her to the ground and covering her beady nipples with her hands. Fay struggled to get them free again, laughing all the while. But eventually she gave up, letting her arms fall to the side and releasing a big sigh. Fay's chest continued heaving in Miyu's hands as she breathed.

"So… did Bacoon ruin tits for you like everything else?"

Embarrassed, Miyu removed her roving hands and plopped down beside Fay. "Huh?"

"Your resolution thing. You wanted to make sure Bacoon and your experience at Badwash didn't ruin anything more than they already had."

"Oh, that. Yeah, I mean… I do still feel a bit paranoid. I can't help but see eyes everywhere I look now, and it's a bit… disconcerting."

Fay smiled. "Then we'll just have to cure that, won't we?"

"Yeah, I guess so. But how?"

"Well, step one…" Fay wiggled her finger at Miyu's chest.

Miyu touched her bra tie. "Oh, this? I dunno. Won't someone see?"

Fay rolled her eyes. "Ugh! You're impossible."

"What?"

Fay half-glared, half-pouted at her. "Loosen up! You have to stop feeling like you're being spied on! This is a private beach, so no one will see us. Just act like no one is watching!"

Miyu sighed. "You know, you're right! Who am I afraid of?" And she resolutely tore off her bra. She was pleased to see Fay's eyes guiltily creep over her, which, unlike Miyu with her sunglasses, she couldn't hide.

"You know, that's one pair of eyes I don't mind watching me," Miyu dreamily murmured.

"You—you don't?"

Miyu's face froze, followed by a simmering blush. "N-no. I don't mind. We're friends after all."

 _Friends…_

"Do _you_ mind?" Miyu returned the question.

"Hmm." Fay shrugged her shoulders, making her chest dance. "I'm quite comfortable. But I think _you_ need some more work."

"Oh? With what?"

"Didn't Bacoon ruin anything else for you, like… oh, I dunno… _clams,_ maybe?"

Miyu looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Clams? I mean, I guess so. That was one big ugly mollusk. But I thought you didn't eat raw clams?"

"Oh, I don't. But I would for a special someone," Fay waggled her eyebrows. "Why don't we start on your rehab now?"

Before Miyu could protest, Fay climbed to her feet and strutted out from beneath the umbrella into the sun. Stopping a ways away from Miyu, she bent over and slid her swimsuit bottom off. She turned and playfully tossed the garment back to their beach setup; it landed next to a stunned Miyu.

Fay planted her feet on the sparkling sand, proudly nude. "Come on, let's go for a little skinny-dipping!"

The spaniel's change in attitude confused Miyu. She had been rather reluctant to get intimate in the hot springs, so why was she so playful _now_ all of a sudden? Perhaps, like Miyu, she wasn't able to totally rest and put her mind at ease then. After all, her best friend had nearly jumped off a cliff...

"W-why don't you wear your swimsuit?" Miyu asked.

"I don't want it to get wet, silly!"

"But… isn't that literally what it's for?"

The spaniel face-palmed. "Of course not! You Katinese don't know anything about high-society. We have bathing suits for all occasions." She cocked her hips and began listing them off on her fingers. "Pool parties, saunas, hot-tubs, beauty contests, sun-bathing—and ocean swimming. It works just like silverware, Miyu! You've got spoons and forks for salad and soup and different dishes. Our swimsuits are _sun-bathing_ swimsuits; not _swimming_ swimsuits. We'll just have to go nude. Understand?"

"Wha…? That doesn't make any sense! A decent swimsuit will work for every…" But she trailed off and mumbled to herself, _"Wait, why am I fighting this?"_ Then she lied to Fay, "Actually, that makes total sense now that I think about it. Why not?"

She followed Fay's example, stepping out into the sunlight and awkwardly removing her swimsuit bottom. The last article she removed were her sunglasses, and she couldn't help but feel self-conscious of her eye patch.

Miyu stood with her arms crossed and legs together, shivering a bit in the chilly breeze. She looked at Fay skeptically. "Can we really find clams in this water?"

"Sure we can! We just need to get lucky."

Fay playfully bumped Miyu with her hips before charging down the beach and skipping into the gentle water. Miyu took off after her, hearing and feeling the wind whistle through her fur. Together they charged into the cold ocean, playfully splashing each other and wrestling one another into the waves. Soon, all thought of catching clams disappeared from their minds… except for Fay.

When they settled down a bit, they waded closer to the shore until the water was at thigh-level. Miyu felt exhilarated by the experience—it was so exciting being completely open with Fay without fear of judging eyes. She wanted to sprint around and wrestle and make love, and the cold caress of the water against her naked form begged her to. Being unclothed and exposed to the elements returned her to a natural, carnal state she was afraid of embracing ever again. Not after the horrible mistake she made with Fay at the salt springs. This was perhaps the last in a long line of experiences Badwash had ruined.

Fay dunked her head in the ocean, then swiftly pulled back out. Arching her torso, she slung her hair back, spraying water in a mohawk-shape around her head. She gasped for breath, chest heaving as she tied her hair in a pony tail.

Miyu freely gawked at the young spaniel's snow-colored pelt. Droplets of water spilled in rivulets over her shapely breasts, salaciously-curved stomach, and into the V-shaped crevice around her abdomen. With each new second she stared, she felt her heart rate dangerously increase. The pounding pulse she had while being chased by monsters, or awaiting torture at the cultists' hands, or even while staring down Bacoon could never compare to this sensation. And best of all, the anxiety and excitement she felt was _good_. One by one, Fay seemed to be cleansing her past experiences.

"So," Fay began, elbows still in the air while she fixed her pony tail, "what's it like not having anyone who remembers what you did? From what you've said, you've lived that day… _five_ times?"

"Six, but one life was pretty short and I don't remember it. I gave Simon the necklace and sent him back instead."

"Oh, right. That was a bizarre story. But anyway, how does it all _feel_?"

Miyu tore her eye off of Fay's body for a second, instead staring at the distant waves. "Yeah, it's… it's almost like a dream. Like everything I went through is just a memory that never happened. No one was able to share in it or confirm my experience, but I've seen the results of my actions. I _know_ that it all paid off. That pretty little town, the quirky, backwards people living there—none of it would still be around today without us. So… I feel accomplished. It was worth it."

When Fay finished tying her hair, she strolled through the ocean closer to Miyu with a sultry gate, riding each individual wave until they were deftly close. In fact, each new wave caused them to brush against one another, their touch sending electric sparks through their bodies.

"I imagine there are _some_ things you're disappointed you did but no one will remember, right?" Fay's voice was soft; almost a whisper.

"S-sure, I'm sad I had moments with people that they won't remember. But I see it as an opportunity to relive the really good ones again. There are… several in particular that come to mind."

At that moment a rare strong wave caught both girls at the same time. Instinctively, they grabbed ahold of one another before Fay brought them tumbling into the water. They rode the current up onto the shore, and when the water receded like a blanket, Miyu was left crouching atop Fay's pinned form. The lynx quickly pushed herself up with her arms, then stared deeply into Fay's eyes.

Once she recovered her breath, Fay asked, "Um, did... _we_ do anything together that I don't remember?"

Miyu couldn't believe this was happening. Everything since their last encounter was flipped on its head. Was… was Fay making advances on _her_ the entire time, or just being innocently playful _?_ She had felt guilty about taking advantage of Fay in the salt springs, but afterwards she assured the lynx she could make her own decisions. She needed to accept Fay was a responsible girl and could take care of herself.

After searching Fay's eyes for a ridiculous amount of time, she swallowed and answered. "Um, yeah."

"Really? Like what?" Fay asked with in a coy tone.

Slowly, Miyu released her muscles and lowered herself onto Fay. Their bodies met in one sensuous kiss the warmth of which Miyu had only felt once before. Gasping for breath at the mere thought of what she intended to initiate, she whispered into Fay's ear,

" _Like this…"_

* * *

THE END


	17. Afterword

**Afterword**

* * *

Intro

Eyyy you made it to the ending! I've been meaning to write this for awhile, but as fate would have it the _moment_ I finished the epilogue school picked up and became a non-stop ride to this very last week of final projects. I pulled like a record number of all-nighters this semester. Ugh.

Even though the story is over, I imagine a good portion of you are still going "WTF DID I JUST READ" so first of all, calm down, and secondly, I'll explain.

When I started out writing _Yellow 60 Lake,_ I wanted to emulate a story by Mr. Skiperdoo: _The Perfect Escape._ Needless to say, if you enjoyed this story, there's a good chance you'll enjoy that one. What I loved so much about it was that the majority of the plot was communicated in hidden details that you really had to hunt for and piece together yourself to understand what was going on. I only realized this on my second read-through of the story; that's when everything starts to make sense. But I know most people aren't going to like a fanfic enough to give it a second go, so that's why I've compiled this explainer chapter here!

The following is a rundown of _Yellow 60 Lake's_ themes, plot, meaning, and inspiration:

* * *

General Inspiration

I've already listed _The_ _Perfect Escape_ as inspiration, but I borrowed a whole lot more from it than I mentioned above. Like the story's cyclic structure, the genre being mystery while set in a vibrant world, repeated imagery that shows up throughout, a single theme it all builds toward, and even the feeling of being watched. I'd say one of the shortcomings of _Perfect Escape_ was that you _have_ to read the story a second time to understand what's going on, so I tried to make the main plot points easier to understand while at the same time leaving the same breadcrumb trail throughout the story that's more optional.

Now where did the setting come from? I'm glad you asked! It's a random location from Vexed's _Chaos Effect_ that he gave me permission to use in this fic. In _CE,_ Fox only visits the location for a few chapters, which is a real shame because the characters were so fun and the concept of a Louisiana bayou updated for Star Fox had so much more potential, so I wanted to flesh it out more. I also borrowed Fay's backstory of being rescued by Fox which explains her ambition to be a mercenary, though I've already screwed up _CE's_ timeline in this story so I had to make it James instead of Fox. Oh well.

What inspired the whole zombie thing and the yellow goo? (that I tried super hard to make distinct from piss)?

Actually, The Avalanches' music video for "Frankie Sinatra". It's a plunderphonic hip-hop song released back in June of 2016. It wasn't until I reread _Perfect Escape_ whilelistening to The Avalanches' previous record, and _Chaos Effect_ for the second time as well, that the stars aligned and I knew I had to make a story based off of this. Just watch "Frankie Sinatra" and you'll see what I mean.

The final piece of inspiration for the day resetting mechanic comes from the anime _Higurashi_. It's a pretty good horror anime, that is equal parts cute and excruciating to watch. Ugh. Borrowing that mechanic allowed me to repeat the same events in different ways like _Perfect Escape._ And for the last time, _IT'S NOT INSPIRED BY GROUNDHOG DAY! AAAAAH—_

* * *

On Bacoon and the Ancient Aquans

Here I'll set in stone what was up with Bacoon's past, as a refresher after Vixy's primer and to make sure you all have the backstory properly set in stone in your heads.

Much of Bacoon's story was adapted from real Star Fox canon. Thousands of years ago, there used to be an Ancient Aquan civilization spanning the planet's oceans. But Bacoon grew jealous of their accomplishments and controlled the sea life to bring about their ruin. It was something ridiculous like mind-controlling the explosive starfish you fight in _64's_ Aquas level to... melt the polar icecaps... which flooded the planet? Yeah, Bacoon is basically Aquaman.

I took some liberties from canon. In _Yellow 60 Lake,_ Bacoon released chemicals into the water in order to control the Aquans and bend them to his will. Through his guidance they became an advanced species to the point of learning interplanetary travel. Bacoon had them hollow out Bayoon, Aquas' moon, and artificially change its orbit so that it hovered in one spot above Aquas. I was taking an astronomy class for my science credit, so looking back on Vexed's description of Bayoon, something didn't quite work out. I used a bunch of different equations for gravitational rotation and orbital velocity and shit, but no matter how I changed the parameters, it never was physically possible. Thus, _this was literally the only way Vexed's original vision for Aquas would work: magical science BS!_

Anyway, while Bacoon was having his body transferred to the center of Bayoon, his brain left the magnetic field of Aquas and he lost control of the Aquans. Disaster ensued, the rubble and magma they cleared from Aquas either rained down on the planet and caused the sea levels to rise, or escaped like they had originally been sending the junk to form the Meteo asteroid belt. That's my explanation for whythere's a random series of warp rings in Meteo—they were left over from Bayoon's excavation.

The original excavation is where Lagrange Rock came from—it was a piece of rubble that became gravitationally trapped between Bayoon and Aquas in their L1 Lagrange point. Thus the redundant name if you know your astronomy terms. Creeper's Rock (the one suspiciously-shaped like a clam in Mulaboo Marsh) is another piece of rubble that fell back down to Bayoon. The excavation also explains why there are mountains in the Bayou when usually swamplands form atop soft, flat earth.

With his Aquan minions freed from his control and returned to their original dumb state, Bacoon found himself trapped inside Bayoon's core. So he went into hibernation, awaiting the day when some curious foreigner came knocking.

* * *

On The Society of the Third Eye and the Munzagoringu Festival

Not all memory of Bacoon was lost, however. Over time, Aquans began to rediscover temples and artifacts they created under his control, which painted Bacoon in very rosy pictures. A cult formed in his absence, focused on recapturing the glory of his former civilization. This is the cult that captured Miyu and Fay and sacrificed them in a gory display.

Here's the cool thing. Amphibians and reptiles _really do have third eyes._ But in most species, they atrophied over time and are rather useless now. The third eye sits on top of their heads and senses sunlight and darkness, regulating their circadian rhythm to the day and night cycle so they know when to sleep. It's seen as a status symbol that sets them apart from other species of the Lylat, as well as a way of connecting them to Bacoon.

While the cult's practices were underground and only open to Aquans who were still loyal to the idea of Bacoon, their ceremonies penetrated popular Aquan culture. The Munzagoringu Festival roughly translates to "moon-goring" in Japanese. It's a celebration of when they hollowed out Bayoon for Bacoon's ascendance, heralding their expansion to the rest of the Lylat System. The popularity of yellow-dyed food is due to Bacoon's original chemical used for controlling the Aquans, which most have forgotten about.

But this was the point of Miyu's torture; she was literally disemboweled like the Aquans disemboweled Bayoon. It's also why they place a clamshell in her stomach at the end, mimicking Bacoon's entrance into the moon. The inspiration for this came from _Higurashi,_ in which they have the "Watanagashi" festival where they drift cotton down a river to symbolize the guts of a sacrificial victim.

* * *

On Yellow 60 Lake

Yellow 60 Lake is the Cornerian Drug Administration's name for the glowing dye the Aquans use in their food. It's completely harmless and has been for years. The reason the Aquans use it is in memory of the mysterious phosphorescent goo that gave them advanced knowledge years prior, but now they only use a harmless substitute, while the Society of the Third Eye has preserved Bacoon's real chemical underground. Andross got ahold of the Society's chemical, and eventually harvested some from Bacoon's sleeping body after gaining entrance to Bayoon, and substituted the legit thing for what the Aquans assumed was just harmless dye. That's the significance of the crashed transport ship in chapter three; it had just finished delivering Andross' chemicals when one of the pilots began to turn and crashed the ship. Andross' desire was to modify the chemical to a point where he could control non-Aquans as well, only substituting his own brain as the controller rather than Bacoon's. In the story, it's an explanation for how he bent the lizard species of Venom to his will (like in the SNES comic), and why he turned himself into a giant brain the size of Bacoon. It even fits in with _Perfect Escape's_ story; it sets up Andross' obsession with learning how to control the Lylat System. Whoa… my dudes, I just realized I've set up the prequel story for _64, Chaos Effect,_ AND _The Perfect Escape._

So how does Yellow 60 Lake work scientifically? Why through magnetoreception, of course. I already had Vixy explain some of this, but magnetoreception, the ability to sense a planet's magnetic field, really is an ability mollusks like Bacoon and other animals (like homing pigeons) have. The idea is that Bacoon's chemical carries magnetotactic bacteria that rapidly develops Lylatians' magnetoreception and makes them easier to control by manipulating Aquas' or Bayoon's magnetic field. I totally checked the science out behind this so there was at least _some_ basis for it. That's how it would conceivably work. The problem is, Bacoon hasn't grown accustomed to the differences between Bayoon's and Aquas' fields, so his signal comes through garbles and everyone just turns into blood-hungry monsters.

* * *

On Malocchio, or the Evil Eye

Here's where it gets interesting.

The Eye was an easy image to repeat all throughout the story. It shows up literally everywhere. But it all goes back to an ancient superstition that's still common to this day around the Mediterranean. Is this a common thing? Anyone heard of the Evil Eye before? Anyway, the superstition is that you can inadvertently cast a ruinous curse on the object of your gaze if you're jealous of the person who possesses it. So like, if you see a mother walking her baby in a stroller and you comment, "Aw what an adorable baby", you're _really_ casting an evil, jealous ray on the baby and cursing it so it grows up with diabetes or a thyroid condition. An appropriate reaction from the mother would be to pinch her butt and spit on the ground three times while reciting "chashme baddoor" (far be the Evil Eye), which is where I got the name for the crazed fortune-teller who's always accosting Miyu and Fay.

According to the superstition, the way to test if you're under the effect of the evil is to place drops of oil in a dish of water and watch what they do. If they coalesce into the shape of an eye, congratulations! You've been hexed. This shows up twice in the story, symbolizing that Bacoon has awakened and found Miyu. The first time was when Chasme tests Miyu for Bacoon's eye in her tent, and the second when the bubbles coalesce in the hot springs and Miyu and Fay realize Cira stole the necklace. It's a symbol of Cira's jealousy of the girls.

Now the way to ward off the Eye and keep it from happening in the first place is to carry around a Nazar or a Hamsa. Seriously, look up pictures of this shit. You'll start seeing them pop up in real life. Nazar's are little amulets made from white and blue glass circles in the shape of an eye. People in the Middle East chose the color because it was uncommon among their own brown eyes, but very striking when foreigners from Europe showed up with blue eyes. I mirrored this by giving both Miyu and Fay blue eyes, which I think they have in canon. Hamsas are basically the same, except they're embedded in some sort of hand symbol using the 'stop' gesture (the basis for Miyu's necklace). The idea is that the eyes have a piercing gaze which turns the Evil Eye back on itself. This is how Miyu defeats Bacoon; with her sole remaining eye, she stares back unblinking with the reflective amulet (made from mother of pearl, found in mollusks like Bacoon), which reflects Bacoon's gaze onto himself, resulting in his destruction.

Xema Tasma, the leader of the Society of the Third Eye, is named after Xematiasma, the Greek process for warding off the Evil Eye. Though in hindsight, it would've been better to name him Jeta Tore (after Jettatore, wielder of the Eye) instead of Miyu and Fay's boss. Jutti is also a shoe that's thrown to ward off the Eye. It's why that disgruntled Iraqi chucked a shoe at George Bush, and in-story it's the basis for one of the carnival games, where kids try to throw a shoe onto a pole.

Cornicellos are these little chili pepper-looking things that are supposed to look like red dicks. No joke. They're supposed to stop the Evil Eye by making the caster laugh. They're the necklaces that Chasme hands out to everyone, and Stephen Gills has one hanging on his jeep's mirror. In-story, Cornicello is the name of the giant clam Miyu buys at the festival to eat, but I'll get to that in a later section.

The Evil Eye shows up in mythology when the Greeks mounted Gorgon heads—those bitches who'd turn you to stone if you looked at them—onto their shields, known as aegises. Which brings me to…

* * *

On the Gorgons, or Miyu, Fay, and Cira

Miyu and Fay, the previously lost characters of _Star Fox 2_ , along with Cira/Black Mamba, formed their own mercenary team before the events of this story. There was an inciting event where, on a mission to Aquas, Fay is left alone and some rowdy pirates begin to get fresh with her. Obscenely fresh. Cira coldly murders the pirates in retaliation, which frightens Fay even more so than the pirates did. As a result, and because Miyu doesn't want an ill reputation, she kicks Cira off the team.

From the beginning I set these three chicks up as an allusion to the three Gorgon sisters from Greek legend:

Fay flies the _Meduza,_ an obvious reference to Medusa, who was the youngest of the three sisters and the established guardian. This is illustrated when she saves Miyu from Cira in the first chapter, and when she keeps the pirates from shooting catatonic Miyu down while she's locked in a trance with Bacoon. Medusa's story is a lot more tragic than a lot of people know. Turns out Poseidon the god of water raped her, and cursed her and her sisters to be ugly. I mirrored this in the story by having a similar event take place on Aquas, the water planet, where Fay almost experiences a similar fate.

Miyu flies the _Sveno_ , a variation on Stheno, the eldest, immortal, and most independent of the sisters. She stands by Medusa after she's raped. She has "creative differences" with Cira about the direction she wants to take the team in. Cira wants to become lawless pirates or bounty hunters while Miyu wants to keep up a good relationship with Corneria, and protect Fay from the darker side of the Lylat.

Cira flies the _Evryale_ , a reference to Euryale, who of the sisters is the farthest roaming and most introverted or distant. It was a nice coincidence that I had already given her the alias "Black Mamba", due to the Gorgons having snakes for hair. In the story, Cira grows an extreme attachment to Fay because she's the only person who's ever reached out to her. When it came time to decide what direction to take the team in, Fay voted along the safer route with Miyu, and Miyu kicked Cira out when she wouldn't conform. Cira was jealous of Miyu because Fay chose to stay with her instead. Which brings me to the central theme of the story:

* * *

On Jealousy

Jealousy is the driving force behind all of the conflict in _Yellow 60 Lake._ I even made the statement that it caused the conflict of the Lylat Wars, and you'll see why. It was my answer to coming up with a central theme that everything revolved around, like how Skiperdoo used revenge as the central theme of _Perfect Escape._ Jealousy is the root of the Evil Eye, as discussed above. As far as imagery goes, I wanted to differentiate a clear color pattern in the story and manifest it in as many areas as possible. So, yellow is the color of jealousy (sorry green), white is the color of the coveted object, and blue is the color of the possessor/protector. This appears when:

Black Mamba, whose eyes are gold, is jealous of Miyu, whose eyes are blue, who possesses Fay, whose fur is white.

In Miyu's past, a black serpent with yellow eyes bit her younger sister, whose fur was creamy white, and her name "Lily" refers to white flowers. This is a repetition of Black Mamba's jealousy of Miyu. The leaves in the forest are yellow, the trees are aspens, like "asp" as in snake. Also, google pictures of aspens. They've got white bark and black branch scars that look like eyes, it's f*cking creepy. Chose 'em for a reason, you know.

This same event is repeated a third time when a snake with golden eyes attacks Fay in the swamp, and Miyu fights it back.

Bacoon's eye is yellow (in-game it's green, but the comic shows yellow), and his chemical is yellow. Many years ago, he was jealous of the Aquans, which caused him to take them over and make their civilization his own.

The song "Jewel I See" illustrates this all the way back in chapter 1. The title and chorus are supposed to sound like "jealousy", and the lyrics describe Aquas being in love with its moon, while the Sun looks on in envy. This hints at the importance of the day and night cycles and the eclipse, where Bayoon the moon passes between the Sun and Aquas. But after the eclipse, the sun emerges, catching them together. The first ray of the after-eclipse sun always heralds Miyu's coming demise.

Miyu, Fay, and Cira are all stand-ins for the heavenly bodies doing their cosmic dance. Miyu's last name, "Tsukikage", is the Japanese word for "moon." Fay's last name, before Pepper adopted her, is "MacDomhan", which, in old Gaellic, means "earth". Finally, "Cira" is the Italian name for the sun.

Now for Andross. Andross is jealous of a lot of things. James for one. He covets Vixy and is envious of James for being married to her, which motivates him to kidnap Vixy and almost bring about her death, as the pattern of the Evil Eye goes. Andross' eyes are described as yellow as well.

Finally, right before Andross is hauled away to be exiled, he gazes back across a holographic Lylat System, from sickly yellow Venom to the proud blue Corneria, hinting at his burning hatred that will ignite into the coming Lylat Wars.

But I've barely touched on the romantic subplot of the story, which means it's time to have the talk. You know the one.

* * *

On SEX

Along with hot steamy lesbian sex, the story had a lot of sexual overtones and dealt with Miyu's sexuality. I wanted to paint her as a masculine figure who struggles with how she fits into society and what she feels inside. On the one hand she's jealous of Fay for exhibiting perfect female traits so well, but on the other she's also proud of how strong she herself is and that Fay seems to admire her for it. The story is about Miyu coming to accept that other side of herself and move on from what she doesn't have.

I dropped lots of subtle hints throughout the story, among the, well, obvious ones. For instance, when Miyu has Stephen Gills explain the chili pepper hanging from his rearview mirror (a decidedly phallic symbol), Miyu's face is framed in the mirror above the dangling cornicello. There's another scene where she buys and devours a geoduck—a raw mollusk creature that has a huge, delectable, fleshy siphon that also looks like a dick. Geoducks are eaten in real life because people think they're aphrodisiacs, for obvious reasons.

I would also like to point out that the climax of the story is in fact one big innuendo. Miyu makes it possible for Gladys' flagship to be rammed deep inside of Bacoon's eye. Like most mollusks, Bacoon looks like massive f*cking VAGINA. The ending is LITERALLY a metaphor for sex. More specifically, Miyu leaving her feminine side and admitting to herself that she has more masculine traits, and there's not much she can do about it.

I tried setting up Miyu's predisposition for Fay by creating her younger sister Lily in her image. Miyu likes Fay because she reminds her of the sister she lost, and her being in danger brings out that protective testosterone in Miyu. And in Japanese culture, "lily" (or yuri) is the term for "girl's love", or lesbianism, hinting at Miyu's real sexuality.

The Epilogue chapter is titled "New Day", which is meant to sound like "Nude Day", in which Fay realizes her love for Miyu is mutual and the two make love for the first time without any jealous eyes watching. Fay even jokes about "eating raw oysters".

The lyrics of some of the songs have double meanings. "Dr. Joker and Mister Hide" was DJ Okarin's way of warning Miyu that Aquans and Lylatians turn into monsters during the eclipse when under the influence of the chemical. The allusion to _Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_ is two-fold, because it's also about Miyu struggling between the two sides of her sexuality—male vs. female. "Closet Cannibal" warns Miyu that the Darling family will turn into zombies and devour her if she doesn't do something, but the title is also a play on closeted sexuality while the lyrics refer to the singer secretly "eating" canines (Fay).

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Final Word

I'm sure there's a lot I'm forgetting, but I don't want to bore you with the rest. I might as well leave things for people to go back and discover for themselves; there are so many little details I hid in the story that further reflect the subjects listed above, but for now that's enough.

Unfortunately (fortunately?) there will not be a sequel to _Y60L_ , even though I had several ideas. I'd prefer to move on at this point, though of course if I had infinite time I'd come back and write them.

So what does Chasme's crystal ball say the future has in store for me? Well I'm about to go into the planning-phase for my magnum opus; a trilogy of stories set in the distant future that stars a complete cast of OCs, telling an epic space opera. I imagine the planning portion will take quite some time, so in the meantime, uh… expect some updates for _Misadventures_! Yeah! Random… _Misadventures_ … episodes… But I'll be reading and reviewing a bunch of other stories, and ya'll can talk with me on the Foxhole Discord where all the other authors are (link in the forums). And without any further ado…

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Thank you to Mr. Skiperdoo for writing an amazing, inspiring story! You've changed what I thought the limitations of fanfiction were and encouraged me to press beyond those boundaries.

Thank you to Vexed for letting me use the location of Bayoon and for creating that awesome moon in the first place. _Chaos Effect_ is a wealth of new stories just waiting to be explored in greater detail, and I hope it inspires other authors as well.

Thank you to everyone who left reviews and talked with me about the story! I dragged you through a lot and I appreciate your commitment. I feel great knowing you all enjoyed the story enough to make it this far, and it lets me know that I'm not completely insane. Your written thoughts seriously mean more to me than viewcount or favorites and follows, which, let's be real, were rather atrocious for this story.

RIP anyone who thought Vixy being Cerinian would be important to the story. I couldn't think of how to follow up on it, but I wouldn't mind if anyone else tried their hand at developing that idea.

The wordcount of every chapter I've posted ends in 60, and-

See you guuuuuuuuuuuuys!

-Elarix


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